Freedom of Ice
by Pikachumaniac
Summary: Medieval Mimoes! I keep seeing Medieval Takari, so here's a medieval Mimoe! 528 PREQUEL up... important to next sequel ' I hope you enjoy!
1. Freedom of Ice

Disclaimer: I just don't think Digimon belongs to me. Honestly, if it did, why would I have to write this? However, Michelle belongs to me.

Freedom of Ice

A medieval Mimoe fic. And trust me, people did use to skate. Perhaps they weren't doing triple axels or wearing sequins, but people used to skate.

Prologue:

"Daddy? Will you tell me a story?"

The man smiled down at his daughter and looked at his wife.

"What do you say, honey?"

"I suppose. Tell her our favorite story."

"You sure?"

"Why not?"

"Please, daddy?" his daughter begged.

"And me?" his five year old son also started to beg.

"See, dear? You've woken up your brother," his wife chided, picking up her begging son.

"Aww, I guess now I have to tell the story to make you fall asleep, right?" the man chuckled

"Yep!" two voices chorused, and the man smiled.

"All right then… Once upon a time…"

~*~

Once upon a time, there were several kingdoms. However, nobody really cared about these kingdoms because most of them don't show up in this story. Only two kingdoms do. Those two kingdoms was the Digital kingdom and the Tachikawa kingdom. The Digital kingdom was run by a council of 12. The two leaders of the council were Taichi Kamiya and Yamato Ishida, while the other members of the council were Sora Takenouchi, Jyou Kido, Koushiro Izumi, Michelle Woo, Takeru Takaishi, Hikari Kamiya, Ken Ichijouji, Daisuke Motimiya, Miyako Inoue, and Iori Hida. This particular kingdom offered a great deal of freedom to the citizens, as well as the fact that the Digimon lived in this kingdom.

The second kingdom, the Tachikawa kingdom, was a monarchy, ruled the Tachikawas. They had one daughter, Mimi Tachikawa. The Tachikawa kingdom had less freedoms for its citizens, and no Digimon lived in the kingdom, but that was okay to the citizen. However, it was the concept of Digimon living in the kingdom that had separated the two kingdoms and was currently causing them to be at war with each other.

Once, Digimon had lived freely in both kingdoms. But when the current Tachikawa rulers took the throne, they forced all the Digimon to leave the kingdom, and the Digital kingdom being the next kingdom over, most of the Digimon had taken up residence there. Now this wouldn't have been too bad… if there were less Digimon. But now they were taking up almost all the resources, and citizens were rioting. Famines were occurring, and the land was simply not big enough to sufficiently provide for all the citizens. Then, if that wasn't bad enough, the Tachikawa kingdom took the opportunity to attack the Digital kingdom, conquering parts of the land and driving the Digimon out again, herding them all into a smaller and smaller area.

The Digital kingdom was in chaos.

Finally, the Digital kingdom started to fight back, and finally there was as advantage with all the Digimon to help fight. But the Tachikawa kingdom had more supplies and resources. So they were very evenly matched.

However, there always comes an unexpected twist in such matters.

And that's what this story is about.

~*~

Mimi Tachikawa was bored out of her mind. Sitting there and looking pretty while her parents talked and talked and just plain _talked_ about war, war, war, war, and more war. Talk about _boring_.

Suddenly, words caused her to look up in surprise.

"I think it's time we discuss Mimi's marriage."

"Huh?" Mimi squeaked.

"Your marriage, Mimi chan. You're already 18, I'm sure we'll find a suitable ally… I mean husband. I do recall an amazingly handsome boy from the kingdom to the north," Mimi's mother announced.

"Say what?"

"Yes, I do recall that boy. Michael, wasn't that his name?" Mimi's father agreed.

"I do believe so."

"He would be perfect for our Mimi chan."

While the Tachikawas discussed her marriage, Mimi quickly took the opportunity to slip out of the room.

~*~

"Michelle?"

"Hmm?" the purple eyed girl paused to look at Jyou.

"You think it's okay if I slip out for a while?"

"Again?"

"Uh huh."

"Such a pacifist, you are, Jyou," Michelle smiled.

"Perhaps you're right, because we've all known I've been against this from the beginning. But either way, I never really do have anything to contribute."

"True enough. I'll tell Yamato you were feeling sick or something."

"And he'll believe you?" Jyou asked rather incredulously.

"Do you doubt me, Jyou?"

"Hai."

"Well, you're probably right on that. I doubt he will believe me, but by then, you'll be gone, right? And what's the worst he can do when you get back?" she replied.

"I shiver to think."

"Aww, don't worry about it. I'll take the blame for it, I promise."

Jyou grinned.

"Thanks, Michelle."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just get out of here before I change my mind," Michelle laughed, fwapping him with a rolled up parchment to get him on his way.

~*~

Mimi smirked as she sneaked past the guards. Sometimes, she wondered how come nobody had succeeded in assassinating them yet, considering how easy it was to get past these idiotic guards. Then she ran as quickly as possible, holding her most precious possession close to her chest. Quickly, she scampered past all the guard stations, making sure to stay far away from anybody who would actually care about her trying to leave the kingdom. Which, unfortunately, was the majority of the guards. Luckily for her, she had one secret connection at the main gate, the only place where she would have encountered any trouble.

"WILLIS!!" she yelled when she got to the main gate, and the blonde haired guard suddenly poked his head out.

"Mimi? It's not your usual time," he frowned.

"I know, I know, but I just had to get out of there. And you know the skating ponds around here aren't worth beans. The only good one is between here and the Digital Kingdom, and besides, winter is almost over! Soon it'll be nothing but water! Come on, Willis, give me a break!" Mimi whined, clutching her skates tighter.

"You're lucky the person who had this shift got sick and I had to take over," Willis grumbled, opening the door of the gatehouse and walking towards Mimi.

"I know," Mimi repeated.

"Do you?" Willis raised an eyebrow.

"Willis… don't give me your lecture!! I'm sorry, all right? So can't you let me through?" Mimi gave him her puppy eye look.

"If your parents knew…"

"But that never stopped you _before_. You know I'll get you _out_ of trouble if somebody tries to go after you!! I _always_ do!!"

"How long will you be gone?"

"I don't know."

Willis's frown seemed to deepen, and right when Mimi thought he was going to refuse, Willis sighed and opened the gate to outside the Tachikawa kingdom.

"All right, Mimi. But remember, if the gate is locked, I won't be able to do anything about it."

"Sure, sure. Hey, Willis, if you find out my parents are looking for me, you know where I am, right?"

"Oh, sure, have me abandon my post. Then when somebody finds out, I'll have my head cut off."

"Wiiiiiiillllllllliiiiiiiiiiisssssssssssssssssssss…" Mimi strained his name.

"Give me a break, Mimi! You know I'll find you, okay? Just go before somebody sees you!" Willis nudged her gently out of the gate.

"Thanks, Willis," Mimi gave him a quick peck on the cheek before quickly scampering off.

~*~

Jyou sighed as he walked right past the guards. By now, none of them cared since he did it so frequently. None of them were willing to argue with him. Sometimes, persistence _was_ a virtue.

He quickly made a beeline towards the skating pond, which was virtually abandoned since the war had started. Well, to his knowledge, at least.

But anyhow, he was sighing because he knew that this would probably be one of the last trips he could make to the pond before the ice would melt, and then what would he do? The meetings were getting to be more constant, and they were all as mind numbing as the one before.

The walk lasted about twenty minutes, and during that time, Jyou couldn't help but just muse about the entire thing. Sometimes, he wondered why they couldn't just sign a peace agreement and get it over with. But they had to return the Digimon to the Tachikawa kingdom to save their own citizens, and the Tachikawa kingdom stoutly refused to allow any of the Digimon back. So the war would drag on until one of the kingdoms were defeated, and more and more people would die.

He couldn't really deny that Michelle was right. He was a pacifist, and he hated all this death. Lately everything had just been escalating, and eventually, he started leaving the meetings to escape to the talks. The ice was his escape. But now that the ice would melt, where would he go?

Before he could finish thinking, he reached the pond. Setting down the black skates, he sat down on his usual log and tied up the skates as quickly as possible. He had to admit that his first efforts had been awfully clumsy, and he had been as apt to the ice as a cow with skates, but after a while, he got the hang of it, right? At least he wasn't falling on his face every several seconds!

The ice was freedom. Freedom from the pressures, freedom from the troubles. It was his chance to escape, like a bird being freed to fly into the vast sky where nothing but clear blue met the eye, a gorgeous blanket of blue covering the world.

Flying… he felt like he was flying on the ice…

~*~

Mimi had to gulp down a gasp of anger as she saw that somebody had reached the skating pond before her. He was already skating steadily, shoulder length navy blue hair whipping across his face as he sped across the surface, glasses slowly slipping downwards.

How… how…dare he use her ice surface! Right when she was about to get up and give him a piece of her mind, she remembered that here, she wasn't a princess. She was just plain Mimi, and what if he was a citizen of the Digital kingdom? He might try to kill her! No, she had to play this safely…

Slowly, she stepped out, as not to startle him. Ignoring his steady stare as he slowed down to watch her sit down on a stone to lace up her own white skates. As soon as she did, she gracefully got onto the ice and skated daintily to him. He had completely stopped and watched her steadily.

"Yes?" she asked.

For a while, he didn't say anything, but finally he said, "Nothing."

She skated away from him, and he soon skated away as well. She avoided him, as he avoided her, but they kept a steady eye on him.

After about an hour, they found themselves skating towards each other, and they stopped at the middle of the ice, staring at each other eye to eye.

Suddenly, he broke into a warm smile, and Mimi blinked.

"You come here often?"

"Yeah," she found herself answering.

"Why?"

She bit her lip. Normally, she would have bit back a sarcastic remark with something like 'Why do you care?', but the way he said it was different. She didn't want him to stop talking to her. She liked how he spoke to her as if she was a normal human being, not a princess who had everything she wanted… except love. He was still polite, of course, but his voice was warm and kind, and his tone wasn't commanding or dominant.

"To get away from it all," she whispered.

"Oh don't we all?" he smiled kindly and looked her in the eye.

"I suppose," Mimi replied and raised her hand.

After a brief silence, he took her hand and kissed it. Mimi blushed.

"I am Jyou, your humble knight," he grinned, bowing down to her. Mimi was about to retort sharply, but then saw from the wicked twinkle in his eye that he was just kidding.

She curtsied.

"Well, Sir Jyou, I am lady Mimi, your maiden in distress."

"Perhaps, lady Mimi, you would like to skate together?"

Mimi looked at Jyou, and saw nothing but earnest in his eyes. He wasn't just being nice to her because he had to, but it was obvious that he was doing it because he wanted to.

"Of course, Sir Jyou," Mimi replied.

Jyou grinned and stood, never letting go of her hand. Together, they skated forward.

~*~

Mimi couldn't help but smirk as she planned her line of attack. Jyou was concentrating on the ice, and he wasn't looking at anything in particular.

Finally, she attacked, suddenly stealing his glasses. He yelped as she giggled and skated away.

"Mimi!" he whined, his hands in front of him as he tried to find her. Mimi just giggled loudly.

"Come on, Jyou!" Mimi laughed, waving the glasses tauntingly in front of him. He reached out for it, but she pulled it away, still giggling. A chase ensured, and after a struggle, Jyou succeeded in getting his glasses. The glare he gave Mimi just caused her to fall laughing.

"That is not funny, Mimi," he frowned.

"But it is! You should see the look on your face!" Mimi continued to titter loudly.

"Oh was it?" Jyou stood above Mimi, and she simply continued to laugh.

"Yes!"

"Well then… is this?" Jyou suddenly plucked Mimi's furry pink hat off her hat, and Mimi shrieked as Jyou sped away from her, holding her hat out in front of him as he skated away from her.

"Jyou, that's not fair!" Mimi shrieked as she skated after her.

"You know what they say, Mimi, all is fair in love, war, and FIGURE SKATING!!" Jyou yelled the last part, and this caused Mimi to increase in speed.

"Jyouuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!" she howled as she tried to grab her hat back from the other.

"Come and get it, Mimi!"

"Ooh… I'll get you, Jyou!"

After what seemed like a day of chasing, Mimi succeeded in tackling Jyou and grabbing her hat. Both of their cheeks were flushed and their hair was messed up.

Mimi ended up on top of Jyou as she put hr hat back on. Jyou reached up and pinched her cheek.

"Your cheek is so pink, Mimi," he smiled.

"And I wonder whose fault it is," Mimi teased back.

"Yours?" Jyou asked innocently, and Mimi slapped him playfully.

"No silly!"

"Are you blaming it on me?" Jyou asked mockingly.

"You bet I am!" Mimi's face was approximately an inch above Jyou's face as they gazed into each other's eyes.

"I'm hurt Meems."

"Meems? I… I think I like that," Mimi decided quickly.

"Then I'll call you that," Jyou replied.

"And what will I call you?"

"How about handsome?"

"JYOU!" Mimi shrieked.

"You don't like that nickname for me?"

"No! Apologize to me now!" Mimi pouted.

Before she could protest, Jyou lifted himself up slightly so their noses touched, and he kissed her deeply on the lips. Mimi was at first shocked, but quickly succumbed and allowed him to hold her as she wrapped her arms around his chest. Finally, they broke off and stared at each other, still breathing heavily.

"Will that work?" Jyou asked quietly as Mimi blushed, her cheek becoming even redder.

"Yeah," she whispered back, and Jyou also blushed.

~*~

"So… when can we meet again?" Jyou asked as he untied the laces of his skates.

"Hmm… tomorrow, maybe?"

Before Jyou could reply, a voice suddenly yelled, "MIMI! WHERE ARE YOU?"

"Willis?" Mimi jumped up, her skates still not yet completely untied.

"Mimi Tachikawa, when I get my hands on you!" Willis was yelling, and Mimi watched as Jyou paled.

" JYOU KIDO! COME OUT CAUSE YAMATO IS IN ONE HELL OF A BAD MOOD!" another voice yelled.

"You're Mimi Tachikawa?"

"You're Jyou Kido?"

The two just stared at each other, and for a while, they didn't hear anything, but the voices were suddenly quite audible again.

"Mimi!"

"Jyou!"

"Do you… do you hate me now?" Mimi asked quietly, her voice sad. Great… again, her status was going to lose her another friend… this time, somebody she loved…

"No… Meems. It'll be all right."

"Are you sure," Mimi felt tears well up.

"Yes," Jyou replied firmly, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. Mimi wiped away the tears and embraced him.

"MIMI!!!!!"

"JYOU!!!!!"

"I've gotta go," they replied at the same time before both turned away and ran towards where the voices had come from.

~*~

"You were talking to Jyou Kido… as in, one of the members of the Digital kingdom council… and you _didn't even know it????_" Willis asked shrilly.

"Well, he didn't exactly say who he was!" Mimi snapped back as they ran towards the gates.

"If your parents find out that you went out to go and skate with _Jyou Kido_, your parents will probably kill me!!" Willis practically screamed in her ear.

"He wasn't dangerous or anything!"

"He didn't know who you were?"

"So???"

"If he had known, he probably would have killed you!"

"That's not true!"

"You wanna bet? What do you know about him??"

"I know that he's sweet… and he's like me! He was just trying to get away, and we ended up at the same place! That's all!"

"Isn't that just soo sweet? I think I want to cry now," Willis replied sarcastically.

"Shut up, Willis! Don't talk bad about him!"

"Why?"

"Because… because… I… I…" Mimi stammered.

Willis stopped, staring at Mimi.

"God… you like him, don't you???"

"I… I do not!" Mimi snapped back.

"Then why are you blushing?!?!" Willis demanded.

"I am not blushing! My face is just… flushed from skating!"

"Were you making out?"

"WILLISSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!"

"Did you?" Willis persisted.

"We… we might have… kissed… once… actually twice" Mimi's voice trailed off.

"WHATTTTTT???????"

"Shhhhhhh!! Do you want everybody in the kingdom to know?!?!"

"YOU KISSED HIM! YOU LIKE HIM! WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO???"

"WILLISSSSS!"

They started running again, and for a while, it was silent, and finally Willis asked seriously, "Do you know why your parents are looking for me?"

"Cause they finally noticed that I was missing and they were worried about me?"

"You honestly believe that?"

"To tell you the truth, no."

"Thought so. Anyhow… they finally decided to arrange your marriage…"

"WHAT?" Mimi screamed in Willis's ear.

~*~

"You are absolutely dead, you know," Michelle panted as they ran.

"I thought you were going to cover for me!"

"I _did_ cover for you!"

"Then why did you come to look for me?"

"Helloooooooooo. You were gone for about… what, four hours? Do you know how long that is? Yamato sent me out to look for you."

"Any particular reason?"

"How about being worried as hell?"

"Great."

"By the way… that was Mimi Tachikawa, wasn't it?"

"…"

"IT WAS?????"

"…"

"JYOU KIDO! HOW ON EARTH DID YOU GET MIXED UP WITH MIMI TACHIKAWA????"

"I didn't know it was her."

"NO DUH!"

"Give me a break, Michelle."

"No… are you… you know, in love with her?"

"No! Well… maybe…um… kinda… actually… yes…"

Michelle rolled her eyes.

"Greatttttttt… another Romeo and Juliet story. Jyou, do me a favor. Stay away from her. Unless you have a desire to end up dead," Michelle stated simply.

Jyou sighed.

"Goody."

~*~

"Mimi Tachikawa, where on earth where were you?" Mimi's mother demanded.

"Nowhere."

"Don't lie to us, young lady."

"I'm not lying," Mimi lied between her teeth.

"MIMI!"

"She was with me, your majesty," Willis suddenly interjected, and tried not to faint as the two royals glared at him.

"Is this true, Mimi?" Mimi's father's voice was very low.

"Yes."

Mimi's mother sighed.

"Then that's okay, I suppose. Although next time, stay _in_ the palace."

"Yes, mother."

"However, on brighter note, Mimi, we have found you the perfect husband!"

Mimi's mouth dropped.

"What?"

"Is something wrong, Mimi?" Mimi's father demanded.

Mimi bit her lip. How could she tell her parents that she was in love with Jyou Kido?

"No, father."

"You'll marry Michael in a week," he said simply before walking away, as did Mimi's mother. Mimi just stood there, silent.

"Mimi? You okay?" Willis asked.

"NO. How do I tell them that I'm in love with Jyou Kido?" Mimi sighed dejectedly, but then cast Willis a hopeful look.

"Unless… can you…"

"No way, Mimi."

"Please, Willis!"

"No."

"PLEAASSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE?"

"What do you want????"

"I want you to send a message to Jyou."

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?"

"Do you want to get me in trouble, Willis?" Mimi hissed.

"You're going to be in trouble if you don't reconsider! Forget him, Mimi! Michael is a good choice."

Mimi sniffed.

"Michael? That lunk head? He doesn't care about anything _but_ himself and his looks!!!"

"And Jyou is any better?"

"A lot better! He's cute, sweet, charming, polite, kind…"

"And you figured all of this out in one meeting?"

"And we love each other! I know it!"

"Those who run fast, stumble."

"Stop quoting, Shakespeare, Willis! I didn't say I want to marry him right at this instant! I just want you to give him something!"

"What? A ring? A jar of poison?"

"Um…" Mimi's eyes strayed and she suddenly saw a vase of freshly cut roses. She quickly plucked a rose out and gave it to Willis.

"Give that to him… plleeassssseeeeee, Willis?"

"You've done a lot of begging, you know."

"Well, I have to give him something, don't I?"

"A rose."

"It's romantic."

"You're going to be sooooo dead if you get caught."

"I don't care. I have to find some way to show him that I still love him even though I know who he really is."

"Exactly! Why do you still insist on loving him when you obviously know who he is?"

"BECAUSE I LOVE HIM! NOW GO!"

"I'm going, I'm going! But… before, I go…"

"What is it?" Mimi groaned.

"Jyou and Mimi, sitting in a carriage, M-A-K-I-N-G OUT… HEY!" Willis yelped as Mimi threw one of her shoes at her.

~*~

"You ran off again," Yamato stated.

"Tell me something I don't know."

"Jyou, I know you hate all of this, but what happened to the crest of reliability? You need to be there when we need you!"

"But you hardly ever need me anyway. All I do is sit there and do nothing. At least this way, I'm doing something."

"You can't keep running off like this! What happens if one of Tachikawa's guards found you or something? Do you know what would have happened? You're an important part of this team, you know!"

"If I am, why won't you listen to me when I say we should end this war?"

"Because it's not possible. If we stop the war, we'll end up with more Digimon then we can take care of. We have to keep fighting to save our people and the Digimon."

"I know that."

"Anyhow, don't run away anymore. We can't deal with it every single day. The disappearing acts have to stop."

"Look who's talking, Yamato."

Michelle laughed.

"He's right, Yama. You used to run away once a week to 'see the sights', as you so eloquently put it."

"But I don't anymore."

"True. Cause you know I'll hit you if you did."

"Yep. Look, think about it, Jyou. I know you don't like it… we all know, but you still have to b there too, you know."

"I know," Jyou sighed as Yamato walked away.

"That went better than I expected," Michelle muttered.

"You didn't tell him."

"No, I didn't."

"Why not?"

"If it's love… then… what can I say? I mean… I love Yamato. It's the same, I guess. I would be a hypocrite to tell you not to go. But Jyou… if you're not careful… trust me it will end up with you dying."

"Michelle…"

"Jyou. I know I'll be acting like a selfish fool to tell you that you shouldn't deny your loves. Not to mention a hypocrite. So I'm not going to do either, just warn you about what might happen. So just… I guess that's all. ^_^"

Jyou sighed.

"I've got to get out of here," Jyou muttered before walking away.

~*~

"I'm doing this because…" Daisuke's voice trailed off.

"Because we were really good friends before this whole stupid war had happened?" Willis asked.

"True. So… what do you want me to do with this? Is it poisoned or something?" Daisuke held the rose.

"Would I do that? Besides, I know that you know where to find me," Willis sighed.

"Give it to Jyou… but why?"

"Does everything need a reason?"

"No, not really."

Daisuke looked at the rose and yellowed parchment again, and thought about Jyou… would it really make him feel happy? He had noticed that the older Digidestined hadn't been happy lately.

"All right. All right, I'll do it."

"Okay."

Willis turned to walk away, but Daisuke suddenly stood up.

"Willis?"

Willis stopped.

"Yeah, Daisuke?"

"It'll be over one day, you know. Then it might be normal again."

"It'll be a while."

"I know. But our courage will get us through it, and our friendship will last," Daisuke said firmly, putting a hand on Willis's shoulder.

Willis smiled weakly.

"I hope so, Daisuke. I really do hope so."

~*~

Jyou stopped in front of his room, a rose and yellowed parchment at his door. He quickly took it down and walked into his room, slamming the door behind him.

__

Dear Jyou chan,

My dear knight, I do hope you're well. Please meet me at the skating pond at midnight, for I need to tell you something.

Your Lady,

Meems

Jyou stared at the letter. Midnight? Could he?

He remembered Michelle's warning. Another tragedy this could end up as. But… this was Meems he was thinking about. Mimi wouldn't do anything, right?

And he really was tired of all of this. Jyou just wanted to tell her that he loved her and that he wished it didn't matter. That they could just run away forever… the beautiful and lovely princess being whisked off her feet by her navy haired knight and they will ride into the sunset forever.

Um… then again, erase that thought.

Jyou looked at the clock. 7:00. Five more hours.

Nothing to do but wait, he supposed. He looked at the rose; a perfect red rose with a leaf slightly bent and no thorns. It was beautiful… like his princess…

~*~

"Have you noticed that Mimi has been acting kinda depressed lately? And she wasn't at all ecstatic when we told her of her marriage plans," Mimi's mother frowned.

"Are you saying something might have happened?"

"I think we should keep a close watch on her. Who knows what mischief that girl is going through?"

"I'm sure we can trust Mimi…"

"But dear…"

King Tachikawa looked at his wife and finally sighed.

"All right, honey. Choose whoever you want to keep a watch on Mimi. And not Willis. If there's something fishy going on, then I'm pretty sure he's involved too."

~*~

Mimi stared at the clock.

Only. One. More. Minute. Until. 11:45. Fifteen. Minutes. To. Get. There.

Only. One. More. Minute…

When the minute hand finally moved, Mimi shot up like a bullet and quickly climbed out of the window down the vines, avoiding the moat.

Once she reached the ground, she was out like a horse being let out of the gate, running towards her own gate, which once she passed, would allow her to meet her love.

~*~

"She's left the palace, your majesty."

Queen Tachikawa bit her lip. What on earth was her daughter doing?

"Bring the army to follow her. Make sure she doesn't know. I'll tell my husband," she ordered. The soldier bowed and walked away while she made a beeline for her husband's war room, where she knew he would be.

~*~

"Jyou!" Mimi squealed, jumping into her boyfriend's arms.

"Mimi!" Jyou blinked, hugging her.

"I was worried that you wouldn't make it… I'm glad that you did," Mimi admitted.

"My friends don't call me 'Old Reliable' for nothing."

"Mmm," Mimi murmured, still hugging him, "Do you love me, Jyou?"

"In how many ways can I say yes?"

"That was good enough. Jyou? What would you say if I said I wanted to run away."

"What do you want me to say?"

"Whatever you have on your mind."

"When do you want to leave?"

Mimi just hugged him tighter.

"Really, Jyou? Do you really mean it?"

"I love you, Mimi. Whatever you want. I know that we can't hide it forever. I know it'll be easier to just get away from it all. Like how we met."

"The… ice… That's how we escaped, and we found each other."

Jyou leaned down and kissed Mimi. She returned the kiss, and for a moment, both felt like they were no longer stuck in the middle of a war. They were flying… flying as if they were still on skates and looking for freedom. For although the ice was already melting, they had found the freedom once again in each other.

~*~

Before they knew what was happening, soldiers from the Tachikawa army dragged the two apart.

"Wait… what… let go of him!" Mimi shrieked angrily.

"We can't, your majesty. We're under your parent's orders."

"But… but… but!!!" Mimi stammered.

"You have no right to do this," Jyou stated quietly, "This isn't the Tachikawa kingdom."

"You know what they say, Kido. All's fair in love and war," the guard sneered.

"I'm so going to get you fired!" Mimi screamed, and the guard just laughed.

"Just try, princess."

~*~

"WHATTTTTTT???????" Mimi screamed angrily.

"You heard me!"

"You can't!"

"I can, and I will, young lady!"

"FATHER!"

"Your father is right. Anybody related to the Digital kingdom is _dangerous_," Queen Tachikawa snapped.

"He's not."

"He is. Guard?"

Jyou winced as the guards roughly dragged him forward.

"We found him with your daughter, your majesty," the guard stated an obvious fact.

"Kido, what are you doing here? Do you have a death wish?"

"I was brought here against my will. If you remember correctly, I was in the land between our two kingdoms. But when I stated that little fact, somebody replied that 'all is fair in love and war' to me," Jyou replied softly.

"Don't talk smart with me, Kido," Mimi's father growled.

"You asked."

King Tachikawa glared at Jyou and got up.

"Execution at dawn," King Tachikawa ordered curtly before turning away.

"NO!" Mimi screeched as the guards dragged Jyou away.

~*~

Michelle closed her eyes as she set down the parchment. Yamato came in and started to massage her shoulders.

"You okay, Miccy?"

"No. I told him to stay out of it, and he didn't listen to me."

"Who?"

Michelle didn't say anything, just staring at the letter. Finally, she handed it to Yamato and whispered, "Give that to Taichi. I need to get some fresh air," before walking away.

~*~

"That's not going to solve anything, Mimi," Willis commented softly as Mimi stared at the dagger.

"At least… we'll be… together… this way," Mimi cried bitterly, her hand shaking.

"What would Jyou say if he saw what you were doing?"

"Well, I WOULDN'T KNOW, WOULD I? BECAUSE MY FATHER'S GOING TO HAVE HIM KILLED, HOW WOULD I KNOW?" Mimi screamed angrily, and Willis flinched.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"I don't want to die, Willis. I really don't. But at the same time, I don't know how I'll live if Jyou is killed. What am I supposed to do, Willis? There's no winning side. Either way, I'll either die or feel like dying.

"It's like Romeo and Juliet all over again. You know how much I hate that story. Why am I allowing it to happen to me? Love really is a double edged sword, isn't it?

"I love him. Shit, I love him, and my parents can't see that, and they don't care either. I feel that the only way I can convince them that I do is by killing myself. But that won't help matter at all, would it?"

"No, Mimi. It won't. And I don't think Jyou will like it either."

"So what am I supposed to _do?_" Mimi shrieked.

"Well, I think you might like this," Willis said, fishing through his pocket.

"What on earth are you doing, Willis?" Mimi groaned.

"See?" Willis grinned, holding up keys to the prison.

Mimi smiled.

"You're a life saver, Willis."

"Aww… don't mention it, Mimi."

~*~

The end is here… the end is h-e-e-e-e-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e… Jyou sighed, looking out the window. He was sooooo dead. Who could have known that his life was so damn predictable? It had happened exactly as Michelle had said it would.

He looked at the moon. What would Mimi do? Would she try to kill herself?

Perish that thought… she wouldn't… I don't want her to die. I don't want her to get hurt, he thought to himself, Especially on my account.

A guard suddenly looked in, blue eyes staring.

Jyou rolled his eyes as he braced himself for a flurry of insults.

"You don't need to roll your eyes at me," another voice stated, and Jyou looked behind the guard.

"Mimi?"

~*~

"Mimi?"

"Jyou, we have to get out of here," Mimi hissed as Willis unlocked the lock.

"But… Mimi. This is your life. You're not going to give it up, are you?"

"I don't care anymore, Jyou! I really don't! I just want to be with you! I don't care if I die, I don't care if I get caught, I just want to make sure I'll be with you."

"That's a very touching speech, Meems, but life isn't a romance story."

"No. This life is more like a tragedy. Please, Jyou. If I lose my title as princess but we're both alive, I'll be happy. But if you lose your life and I live, I'll never be able to live with myself," Mimi embraced Jyou as he stepped out of the cell.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I may not have been sure of many things in my life, but I'm sure as hell that I'm willing to do this. I'm not going to give you up, or our love. Please, Jyou. Don't be a stubborn fool and look out for me because you don't want me to get hurt. I'll be okay, really."

Mimi had started crying, and Jyou brushed away one of the tears. He brushed away her hair that covered her forehead and kissed her there.

"It's okay, Meems. It's okay," he whispered.

"I hate to break this up, but you have to get out of here."

"But… what about you, Willis?" Mimi asked.

"I'll be okay. Daisuke will help me."

Mimi sniffed and finally untangled herself from Jyou, hugging Willis.

"Thank you, Willis. You were always such a good friend to me."

Willis patted her back.

"It'll be all right, Mimi. Good-bye. I hope you make it out all right," Willis answered.

"Good-bye, Willis," Jyou looked at the younger man, "Thank you for everything."

"Be happy, you guys. Both of you."

~*~

"Jyou, this way," Mimi pointed, and the two climbed up the stairs.

"Where are we going, Mimi?"

"My room. We can get down from there, the vines…"

"What if we fall? What's down there?"

"The moat. Trust me, okay, Jyou?"

"I trust you, Mimi. I trust you with my life."

Mimi smiled.

"Let's go then."

The two started to run, slipping past guards and finally reaching Mimi's room, out of breath.

Jyou's shoulders slumped as he looked out the door.

"This isn't going to work, Mimi."

"Why not?"

"They're onto us."

~*~

"Mimi! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Mimi's father roared, in front of an army of soldiers.

"I'm doing what I want to do."

"Jyou Kido, what the hell are you doing here? You are going to be so dead when I get my hands on you. Get the HELL away from my daughter!" he continued to roar.

"No, father! I love him, and he loves me! I don't care what you say anymore," Mimi growled.

"Jump," Mimi suddenly whispered to Jyou.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Jyou."

"What happens if you die?"

"What happens if _you_ die?"

Jyou looked at the army. Not good. Jyou finally took Mimi's hand and moved back towards the window.

"Kido! Don't you dare!!!!" Mimi's mother screeched as she saw them both edging towards the window.

"Jyou. If we do die, I want to tell you one last thing."

"Yeah?"

"I love you, Jyou."

Jyou finally tore his gaze away from the advancing army.

"I love you too, Mimi."

They jumped.

~*~

Epilogue

"Nobody ever knew what happened to Jyou and Mimi," the man continued, his son and daughter staring with wide eyes at him.

"They died?" the girl squeaked. The man chuckled.

"No, Michelle. They never found the bodies in the moat."

"But then what happened?" his son persisted.

"The two kingdoms made up… like Mimi had predicted, it had taken her death to resolve their differences with the Digital kingdom. Finally, after several months of debating, the two kingdoms made up and the Digimon were allowed to return to the Tachikawa kingdom. Then peace reigned, and it has ever since."

"Isn't it weird that we have the same names as the guard and Jyou's friend?" his son asked.

"Willis, isn't it too late for both of you? I think it's time for you to go to sleep," the woman picked up her son and placed him in the second bed.

"But motherrrrrr…" Willis protested.

"Your mother is right," the man smiled, "You too, Michelle."

"Fatherrrrrrrr…" Michelle whined.

"Go to sleep, you two. You've avoided it for long enough. Maybe one day, if you'll very good, I'll tell you what happened to them."

Michelle snorted.

"I bet you don't know."

The woman raised an eyebrow.

"If that's what you believe, then you may do so."

"Is that even a true story?" Willis asked.

"Perhaps," the man answered, "Good night, you two."

~*~

"Think we should have told them?" Tobias Kiwa asked his wife, Meems Kiwa.

"When they're older."

Meems Kiwa, previously known as Mimi Tachikawa, smiled at her husband.

"I suppose some things are better left not known," Tobias Kiwa, also known as Jyou Kido, kissed his wife on the cheek.

The two smiled at each other again and walked out of the small house, looking at the small skating pond where a while ago, two innocent people skated together and experienced the freedom of both the ice and love for each other.

"Good night, Jyou chan."

"Good night, Mimi chan."

Do you honestly believe that I could have killed off Jyou and Mimi? Well, yeah, I've done it before… ^^ Please, please, please, R&R!!!!!!!

I am actually writing a sequel to this fic *gasp*. Course, I'm still working on it right now, but it isn't that bad. Exciting sword fight scenes, courtesy of being totally in love w/ Tamora Pierce's books, and so on. ^^ We need more medieval Mimoes! Well, I mean only Mimoe, not as a secondary coupling. Too many medieval Takaris! Taioras! Hardly any Mimoes! And Mimoe is just so cute!! I guess all I can say is look forward to a couple more medieval Mimoes from me this week because it's spring break and I have almost _no_ homework! *_*' I got all the nice teachers this year… take that Erika! I don't have Towers! I don't have Risden! I don't have… wait, I do have Yoshihara-Ha! ^^ I'm feeling sane again, hope you enjoyed!! 

Pikachumaniac


	2. Lily Pads

Disclaimer: Digimon has not yet reversed ownership to me from the last time I wrote a disclaimer

Disclaimer: Digimon has not yet reversed ownership to me from the last time I wrote a disclaimer. Michelle, Frostmon, all related digivolutions, and the storyline belong to me.

Lily Pads

Takes place a couple months after "Freedom of Ice", during the summer months. ^^ Medieval Mimoe with a teensy weensy bit of Yamato*Michelle thrown in it. And the only reason why I wrote this was because I got an idea stuck in my head and it wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it down.

BTW, if you were wondering about the names I chose in the last fic, Tobias is the name of one of my favorite Animorphs while Kiwa is a mix of Kido + Tachikawa.

Notes for reviewers from "Freedom of Ice" at end of this fic! ^^' I would have put it in the beginning, but I think it would have given everybody a heart attack what with all the insanity involved within. So if you get terribly bored with the fic but you reviewed the last one, just go to the bottom to see my note for you. ^^' 

A warning right now. The sword fights here are pretty detailed, a horrible result of reading Tamora Pierce's books, especially Alanna. In fact, I have almost all of her books, except for the Circle of Magic quartet and Page. *you are talking to one of the cheapest people in the world, and I will be getting Page when it comes out in paperback.*

****

RATED PG-13 FOR RATHER GRAPHIC SWORD FIGHTS…

~*~ Prologue ~ AKA lousy explanation about how Jyou and Mimi came to their present state.

"Daddy, when are you going to tell us the ending to your story?" Michelle asked, tugging on Tobias Kiwa's pant leg. Tobias looked down at his daughter.

"Shouldn't you be studying with your mother?"

"Mathematics is boring."

"So is ignorance."

"I'm not ignorant."

"You won't be ignorant if you go study."

"Why don't you get educated by mother? If you'll learn my mathematics and I do the farming, would that be okay?" Michelle asked.

"No, because I already learned my math skills, and you haven't," Tobias gently pushed Michelle back to the house, "Give your mother a kiss from me."

Michelle pouted but obediently scampered back into the house, and Jyou Kido smiled. Who could have known that Mimi and him could have had two wonderful kids, considering what they had been through just to get away from it all. He paused, leaning on the spade as he looked at the pond. Already, lily pads were beginning to sprout up, and it created a rainbow of colors on the pond.

After jumping from Mimi's room, the two had fallen into the moat. Before any of the guards could get down there to see if they were alive (flashlights hadn't been invented, remember), the two had ended up right underneath the bridge, so nobody could see them. When the army had left the area, the two had floated downstream and ended up quite wet and smelling relatively fishy. Once extracting themselves from the river, they ended up moving to the pond where they had met.

They built a house, got a garden, had children, and were currently living the perfect little cottage life. Not to mention they had changed their names in case anybody asked about anything about them, not that anybody even knew they lived there. But it never hurt to take precautions. Also, it helped during trading. Anything they didn't have they traded for in the Digital kingdom, mainly because there were rumors that if King and Queen Tachikawa ever found them, they would probably try to kill him.

Well, it wasn't that bad, being fugitives and living off the land. At least they weren't dead and nobody was trying to hunt them down to tack their heads up on a wall. He was still rather awed that nobody had found them. But then again, everybody thought that they were dead, so nobody would be looking for them… right?

He didn't know that at that moment, somebody _was_ watching them.

~*~

Morning found Jyou alone, and he looked up sleepily.

"Mimi chan?" he asked, until he noticed a note next to him on the table.

_Jyou chan:_

My dear knight, I know I should have waken you up to help me when I went to pick mushrooms,, but I knew that we couldn't leave the kids alone and they wouldn't want to wake up early. But I promise to be back in time for lunch. Try to hold the fort until I get back.

Your lady,

Mimi

Jyou blinked and looked at the clock (how they had clocks in the Medieval times is currently beyond me. Maybe it's steam operated? Ooh, they have a sundial! How about that?). She couldn't have been gone for a while, but there was still five hours before noon.

Slowly, he pulled himself off the bed, and put on the cream colored tunic and soft tan colored breeches, his daily wear. He grappled for his glasses, putting them on so he could once again see the world in focus.

He took a quick look at the two beds, where Michelle and Willis were both sleeping. Ah, let them sleep for a little longer, it wouldn't hurt. At least Mimi wouldn't be here to say anything. Besides, it would be easier for him to take care of them when they weren't running around like wild elephants ^_^.

Sighing, he looked at the few possessions they had. After they had been presumed 'dead', both had managed to sneak back into their rooms and got a few things. On a wooden peg, two pairs of skates were hung by the laces. Mimi had also taken some cloth and thread from the store rooms, and Jyou had gotten his sword from the armory. He wondered vaguely if he would ever need it or if anybody would notice that it was missing. Cause if anybody did notice that it was missing, either they would think somebody stole it or somebody really intelligent would figure out that he was alive, and that certainly wouldn't be a good thing.

He stared at the sword. Another reminder of the days when they spent the majority of the time staring behind their back for an assassin to stick a sword through them.

"Father?"

He blinked, returning to reality and looked down at Michelle.

"Yes, Michelle?"

"Where's mother?"

"She went to pick mushrooms, sweetheart. Do you need her? If you wake up your brother, we can go look for her," Jyou offered to his daughter.

"But if she's picking mushrooms, then who are those people outside?"

"WHAT????" Jyou slammed the door open and found himself staring at a vast army.

Michelle looked at the army from behind her father.

"Kido! Surrender now, we know who you are," one of the guards yelled.

"S***!" Jyou cursed under his breath, and Michelle looked up at him.

"Father… I thought your last name was…"(and she thought, what does s*** mean?)

"Kido, where is Mimi? If you both surrender peacefully, we might not be so harsh."

"There's no Kido here! He died a long time ago!" Jyou yelled back desperately, pushing Michelle back into the house.

"Don't be a fool, we know who you are," the guard repeated.

"Doing this would be a violation of the peace terms!" Jyou snapped, dragging Michelle back and slamming the door.

"Father, what's happening??" Willis wailed as he watched the guards advance.

"Nothing's happening, Willis. Michelle, I want you to take Willis to the woods, and don't come back, no matter what happens, all right?" Jyou pushed the two towards a window at the back of the house, just big enough for the two children to escape from. He was relieved to see that there were no guards out there, watching the back part of the house.

"But father, what about you?"

"I'll be okay, you two. Go find your mother. If you can't, find Michelle Woo. Go to the Digital kingdom and ask for Michelle Woo, from the Digital council."

"I thought that was just a story," Willis protested.

Jyou turned as he heard a pounding on the door, and he was sure he could hear the door becoming splinters at every pound.

"It's not, all right. It's true. Michelle Woo really is a member of the Digital council."

"That would mean that Jyou and Mimi exist though. Did they die? Do you know them? Do _we_ know them?" Michelle asked.

"You know them. Okay, you know them. But right now, you just have to get out of here. It isn't going to be very pretty. Either find your mother or Michelle."

"We don't know anybody but you and mother. You don't let us."

"That's the point," Jyou muttered as he grabbed his sword which was hanging on the wall. His hair, which had grown a little longer since being presumed dead was quickly tied into a horsetail to prevent it from getting into his eyes.

Somebody slammed on the door again, and Jyou looked at the door. Only one more before it would come down, but so far, Michelle and Willis didn't look at all ready to move.

"If you find your mother, ask her to explain everything. If you find Michelle, ask her to tell you everything about Jyou Kido. You two have to go," Jyou finished, drawing the blade from the sheath.

"But what about you?"

"GO!" Jyou barked, and finally Michelle and Willis scampered out through the window.

Jyou sighed with relief as he watched his son and daughter raced out, and braced himself for the onslaught of soldiers that was bound to come in soon.

~*~

Meems Kiwa, P.K.A. known as Mimi Tachikawa, couldn't help but feel that there was something wrong as she cut the next mushroom and stuffed it in the bag. Maybe she should have waken Jyou up, but he had looked so peaceful as he slept.

A sudden thundering caught her attention, and she hid behind the tree as she looked at an… army?

And where the hell were they going? She looked at the direction in which they were heading and turned pale.

"Damn…" Mimi muttered, dropping her knife and running towards her home, also where the army as heading towards.

~*~

Jyou winced as the door finally was burst open, and he shot a look over his shoulder to make sure that Michelle and Willis were out of the way.

He immediately recognized the sneering guard as the one he had met those years ago… the one who had been so eager to kill him.

The guard recognized him too, obviously.

"Well, well, if it isn't our little escapee," he grinned.

"Well, well, if it isn't our sneering guard," Jyou mocked, his grip tightening on his sword.

"That's not going to save you, Kido. You're obviously rusty."

"Is that so," Jyou shot back.

"I know so… men, don't kill him," the guard stepped back.

"Can't say the same for myself."

~*~

"Father's not going to kill anybody, is he? He might get arrested for that," Willis said quietly as the two watched the house from the branches of a very leafy tree, shielded from the view by the leaves.

"He won't even fight with Mother… why would he get into a fight with… these… guys…" Michelle's voice trailed off as a bloodied guard came charging out of the house, his arm cut and one hand missing.

Soon after that, a body was thrown out of the now doorless house. Michelle blinked.

"Father's probably just lost his mind. I think we should go check on him," Michelle muttered.

~*~

(a/n: This scene is dedicated to CtienH and your many different screennames because I know how much you love your sword fights.)

Jyou closed his eyes and breathed in heavily, ignoring his conscious, par usual. He was pretty sure that at least one of his victims would end up dead, and he didn't like that. But he couldn't do anything about it now. He caught his breath in time to block the swipe of a thrust that would probably have cut off his head. Instead, he used part of the splintered door to block the blade and used his own sword to swipe to the side, cutting into his opponent's side deeply. Was it his side?

A hand flopped to the ground, and Jyou resisted the urge to retch, instead swinging to the side blindly. The scream he heard died off quite quickly. He had no doubt that the man was dead. He turned to look and saw that the guard had been cut in the chest, resulting in his death.

Jyou blocked a third down sweeping sword, which would have cut into his shoulder if he hadn't avoided it. The force caused both to jolt, and after a while, he disengaged from the blade and swung his blade in a half circle, aiming for the guard's side. This one had some brains because he stepped back , and Jyou lunged again, forcing the other to block rather than attack. The guard forced him into a body-to-body, and luckily, Jyou had the advantage with all the work in the gardening and forced the other guard to his knees. The man broke the body-to-body, dropping down and rolling out of the way, but not quickly enough to avoid Jyou's strike, the blade slicing down, causing a gash from his collar bone all the way down to his side. He withdrew, bleeding heavily.

He half turned to face his next opponent, and without warning, the man struck, cutting slightly into Jyou's shoulder. Before Jyou could fight back, the swordsman struck again, tearing down his thigh and causing more blood. Jyou fought back desperately, the flat of his blade knocking into the guard's cheek. He briefly stopped, holding his throbbing cheek, and Jyou brought his blade up, catching the guard's hilt and forcing the sword from his hand, which imbedded itself in the wall.

The guard backed away, but before he could do anything, he felt something slam into the side of his head, knocking him to the ground. The sneering guard stood above him, holding a part of the door.

"Watch your side," he sneered, walking casually over and kicking the blade out of Jyou's hand. He didn't reply, trying to ignore the painful throbbing in his head. However, soon the pain in his head was overwhelmed when the guard kicked him in the stomach.

"Father!" a voice screamed, and they all turned to look at a little girl with navy blue hair tied into a pony tail and brown eyes.

"Michelle, get the hell out of here!" Jyou yelled, but the guard just kicked him again.

"Stop it, you big meanie!" Michelle yelled angrily, throwing herself at the guard and attacking him as viciously as if she had a weapon.

"Shut up, you little brat," he snapped, shaking her off his leg and grabbing her by the shoulders, slamming her into the wall.

"Stop it!"

The guard ignored him.

"Hey, let go of her," Willis yelped, kicking the guard's leg (I think I should name the guard).

"Damn it, how many brats do you have here, Kido?" the guard roared, letting go of Michelle, who dropped to the ground. Willis grabbed Michelle and the two sped out.

"They're… not brats."

"Be quiet!" he pulled Jyou up roughly, who flinched from the pain, "Where is the princess?"

"Why do you care?"

"Cause it'll be less painful for you."

"Like I said, why do _you_ care?"

"If you have no answers, then don't say anything," the guard (who has yet to be named but will be!!) snapped, dragging Jyou outside.

~*~

Michelle was still in shock, and Willis was still dragging her.

"What are you doing, Willis? Father needs our help!!"

"Saving you," Willis shot back.

"What are you doing?" a voice inquired, and Michelle and Willis looked up to see a knight wearing silver colored chain mail and the sign of a seal with wings, a horn, and a purple jewel at its throat. Small purple amethysts dotted the chain mail, and the knight wore leather gloves with a silver dotted crest of joy adorning the top, and a long sword was sheathed at their side. A sky blue seal like Digimon with sea green spots, a fish tail, and a blue green braid stood at their side.

Michelle and Willis started screaming.

~*~

Mimi reached the house in time to see… nothing but a ripped out door and a messed up house. There was blood covering the ground and Jyou's sword was lying on the ground as well.

She gingerly picked up the blade, the silver hilt with a black opal at its base. There was blood staining it, and after staring at the blade, she sheathed it and started running towards the Digital kingdom.

When she got to the gate, she just stared at the iron gates. After some debating, she took in a deep breath and screamed.

"WILLISSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!"

A familiar pair of blue eyes stared out the guard house in absolute surprise.

"Mimi?" Willis whispered loudly.

~*~

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Michelle and Willis screamed, and the knight didn't say anything.

The knight reached up and removed the helmet, long brown hair cascading down their face. Whoever it was brushed away the hair, and the two could see purple eyes staring intently at them.

She stared at them.

"What are you two doing?" she demanded.

They didn't say anything except stare at her.

"Well?"

"We're looking for somebody," Michelle finally answered.

"Who? What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be in the kingdom, not the land between?"

"Huh?" Willis yelped.

"Are you from the Tachikawa kingdom or the Digital kingdom? Whichever one, I can take you home," the knight offered.

"We're… we're looking for our mother. That's what our father told us to do."

"And… who is your father?"

"Tobias Kiwa."

The knight blinked, and finally sighed.

"Which kingdom are you from?"

"We're… we live in the area between the two kingdoms," Michelle answered.

"But nobody lives there."

"We do," Willis piped up.

The knight bit her lip, purple eyes staring intently at the two children. 

"What's your name, dears?"

"I'm Michelle, and this is my brother, Willis." The knight looked at the two; Michelle had long navy blue hair and brown eyes while Willis had brown hair with black eyes, so familiar.

"My name's Michelle Woo, but you may call me Miccy," Miccy introduced herself. *a/n: From this point on, Michelle Woo will be referred to as Miccy unless otherwise noted, to prevent confusion between the two Michelle(s)*

"You! Our father told me to look for you too!" Michelle yelled, pointing.

"Waitasecond… do I know your father?" Miccy blinked.

"Don't you? He spoke of you as a really good friend," Willis asked.

"I don't think I know a Tobias Kiwa… does he have any other names?"

The two looked at each other.

"The mean guard called him Kido," Michelle finally whispered, and Miccy felt herself pale.

"Kido? Kido Jyou…" she closed her eyes, the last part of her statement not to Michelle and Willis, but herself.

"Are you okay, Miccy?"

Miccy shook her head, trying to clear her mind and smiled at the two.

"Yeah… um, I'm going to take you to the Digital kingdom, okay? We'll look for your mother from there. Is that all right?" Miccy asked.

The two looked at each other again.

"Okay," they replied in unison, and Miccy stripped off her gloves and stuffed them in a pouch at her waist, taking each by the hand.

"Let's go then," Miccy walked back towards the Digital kingdom, the daughter and son of her best friend skipping right beside her.

"So, anything about your father you want to tell me about? Does he still have allergies?"

"Yes! Every spring he spends half the day sneezing!" Willis replied.

"And he makes me do my mathematics. I offered to do the farming if he'll do my calculations, but he said I had to learn them," Michelle pouted. Miccy laughed out loud at the thought of Jyou sitting next to Willis learning 1+5 again.

"You should listen to your father. He used to help _me_ with my calculations!"

~*~

Oh god… it hurt a lot. His shoulder and thigh was still bleeding, and his head still felt woozy. Every time he opened his eyes, it was the equivalent of opening one's eyes under water, and he couldn't see anything but a blurry world.

Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow…

Finally, they stopped and dropped him. Unable to stand due to exhaustion, he collapsed to the ground, eyes tightly shut. After what seemed like a year, he opened his eyes and saw that they were at the main gates into the Tachikawa kingdom. Ooh… now he was probably screwed.

Just when he was finally seeing clearly again, he was jerked back up and being dragged towards only god knows where again.

~*~

"Mimi! I thought you were dead!" Willis hissed, embracing her. Then he noticed the sword at her side, "Whose sword is that? It looks like the one that was missing from the armory."

"It's Jyou's sword," Mimi replied quietly, "Willis, I need your help. My father's guards attacked the house we were living in, and now I can't find Jyou or my kids! I really need your help."

Willis frowned.

"Are they dead?"

"I don't know! I don't know if they're dead, if some are okay, if he's been arrested… I don't know!" Mimi shrieked.

"If they were killed or arrested, it would be a violation of the peace treaty we have. We can't let this out. It'll result in another war."

"Mimi Tachikawa????" a voice asked incredulously, and two heads turned to see Miccy holding hands with Michelle and Willis.

"Michelle! Willis!" Mimi screamed, reaching down to embrace her two children.

"Willis… Jyou's alive."

"I know."

Miccy sighed. "I can't believe this is happening. I always thought they were dead," she admitted, watching as Mimi hugged her children, crying happily.

Finally, Mimi let go and looked at her two children.

"Where's your father, dears?"

"The mean guards took him, and they hurt him," Willis whimpered, and Miccy and Willis (senior? ^_^) looked at each other.

"Peace violation. Nobody from either country can seize or arrest anybody living in the land between the kingdoms," Miccy stated slowly.

"Mother… how do you know Miccy? And who's that man? Also, you never told us the end of the story. Why'd Miccy call you Mimi Tachikawa?" Michelle started blaring off questions, and Mimi paused.

"I don't really know Miccy, but this man is Willis…"

"Call me Wallace, to save us some identity crisis," Wallace *a/n: Same situation as w/ Miccy/Michelle* replied kindly.

"Yes… the story is true. I'm Mimi Tachikawa. Your father is Jyou Kido. That army was sent by my father, who has always hated your father," Mimi finally admitted, "This is the Michelle Woo and Willis from our story too. It all happened. And now your grandfather is probably ready to kill your father…"

~*~ (any part w/ Michael is dedicated to Child of the Faeries… I will use your suggestion later! ^^ I know you'll like it… hee hee…)

Michael, prince from the kingdom north of the Tachikawa kingdom, watched as several guards dragged in the bloodied Jyou Kido. He just stared at the former member of the Digital council, disbelief in his eyes. This was the man that had captured Mimi Tachikawa's heart? That didn't seem possible! He was… was… a nobody!

And who could have blamed him. Jyou certainly didn't look like that much at the moment, bleeding from wounds, and not to mention his plain clothes were ripped and shoulder length navy blue hair tussed up, silver rimmed glasses slightly bent.

Basically, he just didn't look too good.

Michael leaned to his… soon to be father-in-law.

"That's who all the fuss is about? He's the one who won my Mimi's heart?" Michael demanded, and Jyou glared at him through infuriated eyes.

"Yes," King Tachikawa cut off any chance of hearing Jyou's sharp retort, "But Mimi will come back, and she will marry you after the proper arrangements have been made."

"Nima? (AKA evil guard who I want to kill… anyhow, thanks to Tanya Takaishi for helping me name him… I hate naming people! I just have so much trouble doing it!!) Take our guest down to the dungeons…"

Jyou shot daggers at him as Nima dragged him away.

Michael just smiled.

"Your majesty, may I have your permission to deal with this scum (how dare he call my Jyou this? *Fwapps Michael with a frying pan*)?" Michael asked as he watched the guard lead Jyou away.

Mimi's father half smiled, half frowned.

"Don't kill him," was the only reply he gave.

Michael smiled.

(a/n: Guess what? I hate Michael!!!!!)

~*~

Miccy gave a test swipe with her sword, swiping through the wood and the head of the practice dummy came off.

"Technically, Michelle, you're not supposed to behead the dummies," Wallace commented lazily as Mimi, Michelle, and Willis watched.

"I know, I know, but I'm just so mad right now. If we inform Yamato or Taichi about this, it will mean war because Jyou is still technically a citizen of the Digital Kingdom, and not to mention the peace terms state that nobody may be arrested between our kingdoms. It can't even come out of this room. If anybody finds out, it'll end up in a war, and I don't think either of the kingdoms can go through that again."

"Yeah, but we can't exactly just barge in and rescue him. That would be a violation of our own peace terms."

"I know," Miccy replied, swinging the sword again and cutting the dummy in two.

Wallace winced.

"Such violence."

"I don't care. Jyou's my friend, and I can't even do anything to help him!" Miccy growled, punching what was left of the practice dummy. Even thought it was bolted down, the screws came undone at the force of her blow and fell over.

"Oh. My."

"Shut. Up."

"You know what? I think we should find out what my father wants," Mimi suggested downheartedly.

Miccy and Wallace both stared at her, and then at each other.

"He'll probably try to force you to come back, and then he'll kill Jyou," Miccy murmured, viciously attacking the next practice dummy.

"Is that true, mother? Would grandfather really kill father?" Michelle asked, her lip quivering.

Mimi took one look at her daughter's face, and all sanity dissolved.

"Miccy, I want to go there. Today. Now."

Miccy froze and the sword flew out of her hand, piercing the practice dummy where its heart would have been.

"You're not serious."

"I am."

"You're insane."

"I am not."

"Yes you are. Do you know what would happen if you gave your father what he wanted? He wouldn't need Jyou anymore. He hates Jyou. He'll probably kill Jyou!" Miccy practically shrieked, retrieving her sword.

"I don't care. He might kill Jyou anyway. That's the way he's always been."

"What happens if we say no?"

"Then I'll go without you. Miccy, please. I need your help, as well as you, Wallace."

"But it's a violation of the peace treaty," Wallace protested.

"So is arresting Jyou!"

"Miccy… do you think there's a loophole in the peace treaty?" Wallace suddenly asked, looking at the knight and member of the Digital council.

"Probably… I haven't read it for a while."

"Maybe we should check it first…"

"There's not enough time, Wallace!" Mimi snapped.

"Mimi, charging in there wouldn't help matters at all. We can't just barge in and do anything we want. There's the peace treaty. A war could occur because of our actions, and Jyou may still end up dead. Let's let Miccy check the peace agreement, and then we can decide further," Wallace explained calmly, and Miccy left to go check.

"What about Michelle and Willis? I can't take them with me."

Wallace grinned.

"Let's talk to uncle Daisuke…"

~*~

Miccy sneezed at the dust, thinking that they probably should fire the maids.

"Michelle, what are you doing?" Yamato asked.

"Looking for the peace agreement between the Digital kingdom and the Tachikawa kingdom. Somebody needs to dust this place."

"Why?"

"Cause it's dusty."

"No, why do you have to find the peace agreement?"

"Oh, no particular reason."

"Sure."

"Yamato, don't worry about it."

"You know that every time you say that, I worry."

"I know. But this is important. Yama san, is there any loopholes in the treaty?"

"That just makes me even more suspicious, Miccy."

Miccy sighed.

"This is important, Yama. Really. But I can't tell you why."

"I can't just let you go out by yourself. You might get hurt."

"I'm a fully trained knight, like you. Yamato, please."

Yamato stared into her eyes and finally sighed.

"If they start something, we have the right to fight back. Same as them to us."

"So if they arrested somebody from between our kingdoms, we could retaliate? And it wouldn't result in war?"

"The arrest would already be a cause of the war, unless _somebody_ decides not to tell us."

"I'm sure I have a very interesting explanation you would like to hear about, Yama, but there really is no time. You're sure that's in the treaty?"

"Yes, Michelle."

"Thanks."

Miccy turned to walk away, but Yamato laid a firm hand on her shoulder.

"Michelle. Don't… don't get hurt, okay? You know it'll kill me if you got hurt."

"A couple bruises never hurt anybody. I'll come back to you in one piece. I promise," Miccy replied, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before walking away. Yamato sighed.

Please get her through this all right…

~*~

"Get up."

Jyou felt a searing pain in his right side and looked groggily at Michael. Couldn't he ever get a break? First he's bashed in the head by a heavy piece of wood, then dragged for god knows how long, and when he finally gets time to rest and clear his head, _he_ had to come.

"I told you to get up," Michael hissed, and Jyou winced from the pain in his side, but he didn't move from his sitting position.

"Even… even if I could… I wouldn't," Jyou retorted angrily.

Michael snarled and grabbed him by the wrist, forcing him to stand.

"It is beyond me how Mimi could ever fallen in love with a nobody like you. You're nothing, a worthless piece of dirt. It doesn't seem possible that somebody as beautiful and gorgeous as Mimi Tachikawa could fall in love with a nobody like you, when she could have had me. I should have had her, not you! She was supposed to be my wife, not yours! Nobody cares about you, and she shouldn't either. You don't deserve somebody like her.

"And I suppose… that you believe… that you do?"

"Damn straight," Michael replied, landing a punch on Jyou's face, the impact whipping his head to the side and giving him a black eye. He didn't fight as another blow forced the breath out of him when it slammed into his stomach, or when the blonde haired prince slammed him into the wall, his head painfully coming in contact with the stone wall.

Is she worth the pain, Kido? Or do you wish you had never met her? If you hadn't, you wouldn't be in this current fix, would you? Aren't I right?" Michael demanded, shaking the older man viciously.

"You're… you're wrong," Jyou breathed out slowly, pain richoting through every part of his body.

"Am I? Are you sure? I'm feeling beneficial today, Kido. If you renounce all ties to your precious Mimi, I'll convince his majesty to let you go. I might even try to throw in your precious brats in well. Then you'll be free to go and do whatever you want to do. What do you say?" Michael smiled maliciously, expecting for the former member of the Digital council to agree.

"You're crazy. I _refuse_ to hurt her by betraying her or allowing you to become her husband," Jyou hissed back, and Michael stared at him in shock.

"Then you'll a bigger fool than I had expected," he answered finally, letting go of Jyou's wrist and allowing him to fall into a crumpled heap next to the wall before turning and walking away.

(a/n: *Sighs dreamily* Jyou is soooo noble… ^^' *everybody gags*)

~*~

*a/n: The kids Willis and Michelle are now with Daisuke, so Miccy and Wallace will be referred to as Michelle and Willis again, okay?*

"Do you think this will work, Michelle?" Willis asked quietly as they sped through the air. Frostmon had digivolved to her champion form, Blizzardmon, a huge sea lion like Digimon with wings and a horn, and not to mention the handy ability to carry up to a ton of weight without losing any speed or energy. Currently, Mimi was sitting on top the champion Digimon while Michelle and Willis were clinging to her front flippers, careful to avoid the silver claws. Willis was wearing the garb of a monk… a fat monk, so when Blizzardmon de-digivolved to Frostmon, he could hide her within the folds of the garment. Underneath, he was clad in his usual outfit and had his own sword, although he wasn't as adept to using it as Michelle, as he did not have the training of a knight.

"No, not really, to tell you the truth," Michelle admitted. Michelle was dressed in a free moving outfit of clothes; white tunic and dark brown breeches, her sword clipped to the leather belt around her waist and hair tied into a ponytail to prevent from getting in her eyes. Her purple eyes were focused and intent, anticipating the battle that was to come.

"Don't be so pessimistic, Michelle," Blizzardmon commented.

"I'm not. I'm simply being realistic," Michelle replied.

Mimi sighed softly, clutching her husband's sword in both hands. Mimi wore a petal pink dress… the same one she had taken a dive in. It still smelled rather fishy, as Frostmon/Blizzardmon had pointed out numerous times. But it was the only nice dress she had.

She was worried. Worried about everything, actually. Jyou, her father, what would happen if the plan didn't work, what would happen if Willis or Michelle got killed… then war would be inevitable, it would probably be her fault… ooh, she didn't like this. She didn't like this at _all_.

But she didn't say anything. Not even when the champion Digimon flew over the gates to her old home and towards the palace.

As they flew over, Michelle looked down at the guards. They hadn't even noticed the huge sea lion Digimon flying above them! How sad was that?

Oh well. Better for them then.

~*~

"Mimi!" Queen Tachikawa screamed as she embraced her daughter. Clearly, the fishy smell wasn't affecting her at all.

"Hello mother," Mimi replied emotionlessly, stiffening at her mother's touch.

"You're alive," her father stated matter-of-factly.

"Yes."

"Why didn't you come back, dear?"

"Why do you care?"

"We're your parents, Mimi chan."

"Don't Mimi chan me! I know you have Jyou! I want him back and then I want to get out of your miserable lives forever!" Mimi shouted angrily, her father and mother paling.

"Dear, I don't know what you're talking about. Are you feverish?"

"No, I'm not _feverish_," Mimi mocked.

"That is not the behavior of a princess, Mimi."

"Like I really give a d***."

~*~

Michelle watched as Mimi was ambushed by her mother and father. It had been easy to get into the palace, and Mimi was to distract her parents while she and Willis searched for Jyou or anything else discriminating to the Tachikawa rulers.

She turned to Willis.

"Willis, take Frostmon with you. I'm going to go look for Jyou… any idea where they would be holding him?"

"The dungeons… go straight, make a left at the second corridor. Eventually, you'll get to a flight of stairs going downwards. It leads to the cells. I'll go and see if I can figure out what our two rulers are trying to pull off."

"Okay," Michelle agreed, drawing her sword, "Do they have a lot of guards here?"

"Yeah, but peace might have made them soft or even more wary… I'll be saying yes."

Michelle rolled her eyes.

"Oh great," she muttered as she ran towards the direction Willis had pointed and he went the other way, taking the sky blue seal Digimon with him.

~*~

"Mimi, this is your fiancée, Michael," Queen Tachikawa introduced the blonde at her side, and when he tried to take her hand to kiss it, Mimi pulled away.

"Nice try, mother, but I already have a husband. And I happen to know you have him. SO give me a break and let him go so we can get out of your life again," Mimi snapped angrily.

"That's very rude, dear."

"Tell somebody who cares," Mimi sneered.

"I can't believe a daughter like mine would act this way!"

"Too bad. I'm not leaving this room until I see him alive and in one piece!" Mimi screeched.

"Contrary, my dear," Mimi's father replied, and suddenly Michael picked her up and dragged her away.

"Let me _go_ you b******! You d*** scum bag, let go!!" Mimi screamed as he forcefully carried her away.

After Michael and Mimi had disappeared, Mimi's father leaned over to face Nima.

"I want you to go down to the dungeons and kill Kido before Mimi can find out," he ordered before turning to face his wife.

Nima smiled and bowed, walking away briskly.

~*~

"Willis, I'm suffocating here!" Frostmon hissed, and Willis glared at the Digimon.

"Sorry your majesty!" he retorted sarcastically.

"Sarcasm doesn't do anything for you."

"Be quiet until Michelle comes back with Jyou," he muttered, looking through the papers. All of them seemed to be devoted to war, but how did the Tachikawa kingdom expect to have a war during peace? Even now, the war would be against them, and even their own people would turn against if they knew that the Tachikawa rulers had been the ones to break the peace treaty. Perhaps the king didn't care because once Mimi was married to Michael, they would have the added power of his kingdom's resources and armies, but it still technically didn't make sense.

Finally, he came upon a paper. He quickly skimmed through it, the contents horrifying him.

"What is it, Willis?" Frostmon asked, her head popping up to look at the parchment that he was reading.

"A possible declaration of war… Frostmon, we have to go to the throne room, and hopefully Michelle will get there as quickly as possible. I have to talk to her."

"Why?"

"Cause if I can't get the news to her soon enough, Mimi may end up dead."

~*~

__

I'm… bum, bum, bum… LOST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Michelle ran from room to room, trying to find the stairway down to the dungeon. No, no, no, no, NO! WHERE COULD IT BE??

__

I'm lost! I'm lost! I'm totally lost!!!! Willis! You said it was over there! But I'm lost! These are the lousiest directions I've ever had! These must be the lousiest directions you've ever given! What did you do, what did you do? Where, where, where, where was the idiotic stairway? I bet you couldn't even give directions to the bathroom in a two room house!!!!!

Suddenly, a noise caught her attention, and she turned to see Nima striding towards a stairway.

_Please, please, please let him be going to the dungeons…_

Finally, she made up her mind and followed him, glad she didn't wear any armor to alert him of her presence. When he reached a stairway and walked downwards, Michelle had to resist the urge to scream in triumph.

~*~

The clang of the iron bars opening jarred Jyou awake, and he looked to see Nima coming for him, sword drawn.

He didn't say anything, even when the guard (evil, evil guard) was standing above him, sneer on his face.

"King's orders. You're to die now," the guard hissed, sword at Jyou's neck. Jyou didn't even move… not that he really could have even though he desperately wanted to.

"Uh hem," a voice suddenly interrupted, and both looked to see a figure at the door.

~*~

"Uh hem."

Nima didn't lower his sword , even as he turned to face Michelle, eyes blazing and right hand gripping the hilt of her sword.

"Are you talking to me?" he asked impassively.

"No, I'm talking to your clone right next to you… Of COURSE I'm talking to you! Do you see anybody else here who I would be talking to? No offense, Jyou," Michelle muttered the last part.

"You're a feisty girl, aren't you?"

"Perhaps, but this feisty girl is going to give you a little lesson in swords play if you don't let her friend go."

"And why would I do that? I'm having fun here."

"Considering your twisted definition of fun, I wouldn't deny it, but I have a friend who would like to see him, preferably in one piece. Now either get _out_ of my way, or fight somebody fairly for once in your life," she hissed, holding her sword up.

"I don't fight women," Nima answered coolly.

"I don't fight b******s like you either, but do you see me complaining?"

"What makes you think you have _any_ chance of defeating me, the captain of the Tachikawa kingdom army?" he demanded, swinging his blade away from Jyou and at the member of the Digital council.

"The training and experience of a knight," Michelle retorted, swinging her blade upwards to catch Nima's blade, creating a flurry of steel sparks.

"Women can't be knights. You're all too soft and weak," he sneered in her face. Michelle resisted the urge to start gagging at his foul breath.

Braggart he was… swordsman he was not. He didn't attack enough, but spent most of his time blocking her attacks. One of the first things they teach is that you can never win by only defending, but you have to attack. Not to mention the blocking was already causing him to breath heavily, while she was still breathing slowly and not feeling in the least tired. She attacked with a series of harsh downward blows, but Nima blocked, lunging forward. He used his heavier weight to his advantage, locking swords body-to-body and he forced her to her knees. She broke away, but before she could scramble back to her feet, a harsh blow to her stomach resulted, and she shot him an angry glare. He was not the honorable opponent that she was normally used to, but just an idiot who would do anything to win.

Well, you know what they say. Fight fire with fire.

Before he could put his guard back up, she slammed her entire body weight into him, knocking him away and causing him to crash into the door. Switching sword hands, she landed a long gash across his chest, and he growled and stood, sword clenched in his hand. She took a quick look at Jyou to see if he was okay,, and Nima used the opportunity. Again he attacked, this time with a punch to the face that knocked her sprawling. Mentally, she cursed herself for being so stupid and taking her eyes off her opponent. She managed to roll away right he slammed the blade down where her heart would have been if she hadn't moved and sprang up. Taking the opportunity to attack while he was still trying to get the blade loose, Michelle jumped up and kicked him, right where the gash was. With a howl of pain, he let go of the sword and swung blindly at her, his rage making up for his lack of skill. One of his wild punches landed in her stomach, forcing the air out of her. He grinned in triumph as she slumped down clutching her stomach and drew his blade out of the ground.

"I win," he said simply as Michelle looked up, fury in her eyes.

Just as he was about to kill her, she forced herself to jump up and then just threw her sword at him, like with the practice dummy. Being the slow idiot that he was, Nima didn't move away in time and the sword buried itself in his chest.

He died instantly.

After standing there, leaning against the wall for support, Michelle finally walked over to the dead captain of the guards and pulled her sword out. Then she turned towards Jyou, who had managed to finally stand.

"Good god… remind me never to get you mad," he rasped as Michelle rushed over to help him stand.

Oh yes… "What happened to you?" Michelle demanded, taking some herbs and bandages from the loose fitting belt around her waist and hip and beginning to wipe away the blood. Still, he certainly didn't look like the picture of health.

"Please don't ask, Michelle."

"Fine then. But we have to hurry. Frostmon can't digivolve without me," Michelle replied slowly, placing Jyou's arm around her shoulder and helping him walk out of the dungeons.

~*~

"Michelle! We've got trouble," Willis hissed as Michelle came staggering up while supporting Jyou.

"What is it?"

"The king and queen are planning on war. They know that Jyou is still a citizen of the Digital kingdom. They planned on killing Jyou and using him as the scapegoat when they have Michael kill Mimi. By using Mimi as a martyr, they will have the citizen's and the Digimon's support, and Michael will also be able to get his kingdom's support as Mimi was to be his wife. This way, they would have more than enough to challenge the Digital kingdom in war, and with Michael's support, they can quite easily destroy us. Even though Jyou is alive, Michael doesn't know that, and he may still kill Mimi. The death of Mimi wouldn't make much of a difference because everybody already thinks she's dead, but it would still be a loss to Jyou, and if word should get out that _he's_ still alive, the Tachikawa kingdom may put two and two together to think that he was the cause of Mimi's death, and if the Tachikawas should challenge war, they would still have the support of their citizens. Either way, we have to save Mimi," Willis explained quickly.

"Where is the king and queen?"

"They should still be in the throne room… I think."

"YOU THINK?"

"I'm sorry!"

Michelle looked into the throne room, and came face to face with about thirty guards. She smiled and laughed nervously.

"Heh heh… hi…"

~*~

"Frostmon warp digivolve to… ICECRYSTALMON!!"

The mega level Digimon was the first to attack.

"Frost wings!" she yelled, frost coming from her shining wings, blinding the guards with powder. Michelle left Jyou outside the room before barging in, Willis at her heels, both ready for a fight when they got the powder out of their eyes.

"Think we can fight them all of?" Willis asked.

"Yes."

"Are you being optimistic?"

"No. Realistic."

Willis rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure, Michelle."

~*~

"What is Jyou doing?" Willis asked as the two saw him appear from the doorway.

"I don't know… I left him outside the throne room," Michelle muttered.

Jyou finally struggled up to them.

"I need my sword."

"WHAT?" Michelle hissed as Icecrystalmon let out another one of her attacks, grabbing Jyou's arm. He glared at her.

"I'm going to find Mimi."

"You can't! Some guard will come and cut you down to size! Wait until the battle is over!"

"I can't. If Willis is right, Michael is going to kill her. I can't just stand by and watch!"

"So you'll act like a fool and let yourself get killed?"

"If that's what it takes!"

"Jyou, love has made your sanity go nuts! You can't do this! You'll get killed!"

"If I don't, she'll die. Simple as that."

Michelle glared at him angrily. Finally, she walked calmly over to the edge of the room where Mimi had dropped Jyou's sword.

"Here's your sword," she finally muttered, handing him the no longer blood stained weapon.

"Thanks."

"Jyou… before you go. I only have one thing to say to you."

"Yeah?"

"If you die, I will kill you later," Michelle grinned lopsidedly before turning to Icecrystalmon.

Jyou knew what was coming then.

"Aurora Light!"

Icecrystalmon spread her blue and white sparkling wings, and all the light seemed to collect and suddenly explode, blinding everybody except her allies. Jyou took the opportunity amidst the confusion to run out the throne room and towards Michael's room.

~*~

Mimi shivered as Michael stared at her, as if he was ready to eat her or something. She shivered again at that thought. God, she wished that Jyou was here to help her instead of this weirdo! Jyou… Jyou, where are you?

"My love, you seem depressed. What are you thinking of?" Michael commented, trying to get close to his soon to be wife.

"How nice it would be to get away from you," Mimi replied harshly, moving away for every step Michael took to get closer to her. But eventually, she had walked to the window and wall, and she couldn't move any further.

"Well, you can't," he snapped, making Mimi just want to get away from him even more.

"I can dream."

"Not anymore."

"Get. The. Hell. Away. From. Me."

"I can't, my dear," Michael replied, embracing her. Mimi looked at the ground, anger making her shake. Even though Jyou did the same thing to her, it was so different. Jyou's hands were always so warm and loving. Michael's hands were currently the equivalent of having a large, cold, and not to mention extremely slimy snake attempt to strangle her to death. There was no love in any of his actions, just dominance and triumph.

Not at all like Jyou.

She was so busy comparing Michael to Jyou and how much her body abhorred his touch that she didn't see when he was raising his dagger, ready to stab it into her back and kill her.

But at that moment, Mimi looked at the window and saw her reflection and also Michael with the dagger. She screamed as she turned to face the blonde haired prince.

At that same moment, the door slammed open, and both turned to see a bruised and battered Jyou Kido, breathing heavily and clutching his sword as he glared hatefully at the blonde prince.

~*~

"Where did Jyou go?" Willis asked as he went back to back with Michelle, facing down an army of ten guards. At least this way, they would have to check their back. On the other side of the room, twenty guards were attacking the Marineangemon look-alike, Icecrystalmon.

"He went after Michael and Mimi," Michelle muttered, disarming one guard and slamming her foot into another, knocking him over.

"WHAT???" Willis practically screamed, causing some of the guards to flinch. Michelle ignored his scream and killed one guard while injuring the other to put him out of the battle.

"Do you not understand English?"

"I heard you, but I don't believe you!" Willis snapped, slicing downward and instantly killing his opponent.

"Well, BELIEVE IT!"

"HOW COULD YOU HAVE LET HIM GO????" Willis continued to rage, and Michelle could only roll her eyes and attack the guards as they continued to come at them.

~*~

"Get away from her," Jyou breathed in slowly, the run tiring him. Mimi took one look at him, jaw practically dropped to the ground, turned, and started attacking Michael angrily.

"What did you do to him???" she screeched into his ear, pounding angrily at his chest in an attempt to get him to let go of her.

"Shut up," he snapped, throwing her into the wall. With a painful yelp, she slumped down, unconscious.

"So, Kido, we face each other. Let me assure you that you will not live," Michael stated, in that really, really, REALLY annoying voice of his.

"An honorable opponent wouldn't even fight, knowing that he was the one who had injured the fighter to his current condition."

"Really, Jyou, not all of those injuries were inflicted by me. Just the bruises."

"It's enough," he stated simply, still breathing heavily.

"I'll give you a second chance, Jyou. If you leave right now, I won't come after you. And then you won't see me kill Mimi."

"And if I don't?"

Michael walked right over to him until they were staring at each other eye to eye.

"Then I'll make sure you'll alive to see me rip her heart out. What do you say?"

"I say, draw your sword."

~*~

"Is that all of them?" Michelle asked as Icecrystalmon de-digivolved to her in-training form, Icemon. Icemon immediately floated (she's like Bukamon… floats, you know?) up onto Michelle's shoulder, her eyes closed on her little seal face as she slept peacefully.

"I guess so," Willis replied curtly, and Michelle winced. Obviously, he was still p.o.ed at her for letting Jyou go after Michael and Mimi.

"Where did their majesties go?" Michelle asked, looking around the throne room. The room was completely empty, except for dead or possibly dying guards.

"I don't know… but I don't think we need to worry about them."

"Why not?"

Willis grinned lopsidedly and held up a rolled up wad of papers.

"Their war plans. And their plan to kill Mimi and Jyou to use her as a martyr and him as a scapegoat."

Michelle shook her head, smiling.

"You never cease to amaze me, Willis."

"Well, let's go find Jyou and Mimi," Willis replied, stuffing the plans back in his pocket. Michelle didn't even bother to wait, already off and running towards the prince's room.

~*~

Michael was a very good swordsman. But he was overconfident. Normally, Jyou could have used this to his advantage, and perhaps use his better speed to end the battle quickly. But his injuries had made him a lot weaker and a touch slower.

He winced as the gash on his thigh reopened, a red spot growing at his pant leg.

Okay, so maybe not just a touch slower.

On the plus side, unlike Nima, Michael was an honorable opponent. He didn't throw in random punches or use anything but his blade, but even that was extremely dangerous. However, he still tried to annoy Jyou, to make him lose his temper and make silly mistakes. And he was definitely succeeding in annoying the hell out of Jyou.

"Maybe I'll let you hold her heart. I've always heard that people want to hold the heart of their loved ones. Of course, it's not literal," Michael taunted, whipping his sword downward and then upward. Jyou lunged, sword for Michael's heart, and Michael finally shut up and stepped back. While he was stepping back, Jyou lunged at him. Normally, it would have ended the battle, but lack of speed made it easy for Michael to block the blade.

"Feeling slow, old man?"

Jyou didn't reply, watching intently as Michael circled him, looking for an opening in which to disarm the older (but not by _that _much!!) man. Michael attacked again, bringing his sword down in an arc. Jyou blocked, just in time to prevent it from slicing a hand off or perhaps something worse. He was weakening steadily, but Michael wasn't letting down at all. He had stopped the rain of insults when he saw that it wasn't affecting Jyou as he had hoped, instead conserving his energy. Jyou knew that to win, the battle would have to end soon or he wouldn't even have enough strength to hold his sword.

Eyes never leaving his opponent's blade, Jyou desperately stopped a series of chopping swipes, and Jyou finally saw his advantage. Michael's sword wasn't of a very good condition, more of the fancy dress kinds, unlike his own, which he had actually used the entire time he was training to be a knight and afterwards. (*sighs dreamily… Jyou, a knight… it seems too good to be true… Oh wait, I'm writing this story… ^^*) He knew for a fact that his sword could take a lot, while Michael's sword could shatter if he put enough strength in his attack.

Strength suddenly renewed as he finally realized his opponent's weakness, Jyou started to attack more viciously, trying to press his advantage. Every time he blocked, he pushed away, causing more strain on the other's swords. Michael didn't seem to have any idea what Jyou was trying to do, each time attacking with more force, but when it landed on Jyou's sturdier blade, it was becoming worse for himself. Michael suddenly stumbled clumsily for no apparent reason, and Jyou took advantage of the brief imbalance to use all his force in his blow. Michael hurriedly blocked, but the force was enough to shatter the sword, and Jyou watched in grim triumph as it fell into two pieces.

"Rule number one in battles… don't use dress swords," Jyou suggested, and Michael looked desperately around for an opening. But with his sword gone, he was helpless. Then he saw Mimi, slowly regaining conscious and standing. Quickly he grabbed the dagger and got up, running to attack Jyou's helpless wife.

"At least I'll have the pleasure to see you die," Michael yelled crazily, and Mimi stared at him, paralyzed with shock.

Sooner than he could battle his conscious, Jyou threw his sword like Michelle had also done. It probably wouldn't have killed him, if Michael hadn't stopped and allowed the sword to pierce his chest, to the right of his heart, but it was still enough to kill him instantly.

Jyou just breathed in, unable to move as he used the wall to support his weight.

Finally, he collapsed, unconscious, and Mimi ran over to him, trying to support him but not really succeeding too well. Just when she was about to collapse under his weight, the door opened and Michelle and Willis entered.

"Mimi? Do you need some help?" Willis asked as she struggled to keep standing.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK????" Mimi screeched, and Willis quickly ran over to help her while Michelle collapsed laughing at the look on Mimi's face.

"Well, you were obviously busy," she commented, looking at the body and blood.

"Blame Jyou," Mimi muttered.

"He did save you," Michelle reminded him as she for the second time that hour, pulled out a sword from the body and picked up the abandoned sheath, quickly replacing the bloody blade.

"Let's get out of here," Willis suggested.

"I'll lead," Michelle offered, her sword still drawn.

~*~ (back to nicknames…)

Miccy watched silently as Jyou and Mimi piled their few belongings onto the horses that she had helped get for them. The effort was minimal, as they didn't have much to take, and after a moment of silence, the two turned to face her and Wallace.

"Guess this is good-bye now, isn't it?" Miccy asked, smiling.

"Probably. We won't be coming back until we know it's safe… and that won't be until my father and mother both die," Mimi replied.

"I still can't understand why you can't just come to live in the Digital kingdom…" Wallace started, but Mimi and Jyou shook their heads.

"We don't want to cause anymore trouble."

"You pig headed buffoon… even if I guaranteed it would be safe, you wouldn't stay," Miccy muttered.

"True. We'll be back someday."

"Someday. Someday can be forever, Jyou."

"I'm not 'old reliable' for nothing, you know. We'll come back when it's safe."

"Where are you going?" Wallace asked.

Jyou and Mimi looked at each other.

"We don't know yet. Someplace… someplace where we can live a normal life, I suppose," Mimi smiled.

"A place like that might not exist."

"We'll look for however long we need. And when we do find that place, we'll send you something," Jyou promised, his arm around Mimi's shoulder.

"Jyou, I was wondering. Where'd you learn to fight like that? You managed to hold off several guards at your house, and you also managed to defeat Michael when you were injured! Is there a little secret past life of yours that I don't know about?" Wallace asked suddenly.

Miccy laughed.

"Jyou and I trained together to be knights. Actually, all of the original members of the Digital council did, with the exception of Sora, who never trained to be a knight. Miyako never became a knight either, although both have enough training to hold off a guard or two. However, Daisuke, Ken, Takeru, and Iori also trained to be knights, but they actually ended up our squires when we were knights."

"Oh really? Who was your squire?" Mimi looked at the two knights.

"Ken," Miccy replied.

"Iori," Jyou answered.

"I feel sorry for both of them," Wallace commented evilly, and Miccy and Jyou both gave him evil glares.

"We… we better get going," Mimi finally sighed.

"Yeah… it's getting dark soon."

Finally, the former princess and member of the Digital council walked away and got into the saddle. With one last wave good-bye, the horses started walking away towards who knows where.

"Bye Miccy! Bye Wallace! Thanks for helping mom and dad!" Michelle and Willis yelled, waving. Miccy felt the tears well up.

"Bye kids! And learn your mathematics, Michelle!" she yelled, nearly choking on her tears.

"They'll be back, you know," a new voice stated quietly, and Miccy didn't even turn to face her husband.

"I know, Yamato. But until then, it's going to be so hard," she sighed as the four disappeared into the sunset, leaving nothing but an empty house and memories.

But even as sadness reigned, the lily pads covering the lake continued to blossom, a gorgeous reminder of the wonderful memories they would always have, and a promise of new beginnings.

As I promised, notes to the readers that reviewed before I put up the sequel!! ^^

Pinkangelsakura: Come on, you're the one who suggested I write a Medieval Mimoe! I still think there are too many medieval Takaris… *pouts* But write whatever you want, although I suggest you finish the CCS fic… your readers are awfully violent, in my opinion… *mutters something about overzealous readers who threaten to dismember the writers*

Child of the Faeries: I used your idea! SEE?? *starts whines* I still think it went too fast! I still think it went too fast! I still think it went too fast! *continues to whine until Child of the Faeries walks away shaking her head*

jmn103: Thanks for the review! I reallllyyyyy appreciated it! *smiles like an idiot and does a happy little dance that, par usual, scares the heck out of everybody*

Nightflame: Actually, I haven't watched "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" before, and I don't plan on it. Anyhow, that means I wouldn't know if it ended up Crouching Tiger style! Maybe this one did! I don't know!!! *runs off laughing insanely while everybody just blinks*

Carter Quetzi Tachikawa: *sweatdrops* I hope I didn't spell anything wrong… ^_^ Thank you also for the review!

Sonar: I'm glad you enjoyed it! I hope you enjoyed this one too, but maybe you didn't… I admit it wasn't as good as the first *whines* I don't even know whyyyyyyyyyy I decided to write it!. 

Al: I'm not taking Spanish! I'm one of the few taking Japanese! MWAHAHAHA! (did I mention I'm failing Japanese?) Anyway, Arigato! (thank you!) *I bet that that's not spelled right…*

Angel#2: Here's the sequel! Here's the sequel! *continues to rant and rave and point at nothing in particular* Do you want another sequel? Do you want another sequel? I'm thinking about it!!

Alexia: Yah… I've killed off Mimi and Jyou too many times, and I think I would have felt guilty if I had done it again! Anyhow, I'm glad you enjoyed the fic! I hope you enjoyed this one too *possibly not, it wasn't as good in my opinion…*

Liete: *does a little dance* I'm glad other people have noticed. COME ON MIMOE FANS! WRITE SOME MEDIEVAL MIMOES! *starts muttering something inaudible about nothing in particular while everybody sweatdrops* ^^ Takari is fine with me, but I still think we need more Mimoes… *puppy eyes* Always room for another Mimoe… *everybody sweatdrops again*

Cindy: You didn't review the last fic, but I just want to give you a note. IF YOU WRITE ANYTHING ABOUT ME NOT HAVING GOOD SELF ESTEEM, I WILL SIC YOUR GUARDIAN ANGEL ON YOUUUU!! AND I HAVE SECRET CONNECTIONS TO GUARDIAN ANGELS ANONYMOUS, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!!!

Please leave a review! It'll make me happy! ^^' I'm still debating a sequel or not.Maybe, maybe not… Either way, please review! It really does make me happppyyyyy!!!!!

Pikachumaniac


	3. Prequel ~ Knight of the Realm

Disclaimer: Digimon has yet to reverse ownership to me since the last time I wrote a disclaimer

Disclaimer: Digimon has yet to reverse ownership to me since the last time I wrote a disclaimer. Michelle, Frostmon, and all related Digivolutions have not yet been stolen from me.

Knight of the Realm

It's me… again. ^^' I'm sure all of you must be scared witless around now. Anyhow, I'm forcing another medieval Mimoe on you people again. This is the prequel to all the medieval Mimoes I've been writing, and it gives a brief overview of Jyou's life as a knight during his first real battle. Anyhow, this story is very IMPORTANT to the sequel of "Lily Pads", and it is beyond suggestible that you read this and actually pay close attention to it cause I truly don't want to explain what's going on in a terribly long and probably boring introduction for the sequel, especially when I had already explained everything in this story.

Pikachumaniac's Note: There are some obscure references to the movie "Miss Congeniality". Those references are "Miss United States" and 'world peace', so when those come up and you haven't watched the movie and you don't understand it… sorry… cause I'm in a lousy mood and I was pissing off because I am under the belief that India has no opinion on the Middle East Crisis and it happens to be that this is a big part of our grade, so I should be working on that instead of writing the rest of this fic, but I'm just watching "The Princess Bride" and I am in no mood to do anything educational unless its reading and taking notes in "Where the Heart Is". :) I've complained enough.

The story is from Jyou's POV. Main characters are him *duh* and Michelle.

Standing to my right were some of my fellow newly knighted knights, Taichi and Yamato. At my left was Koushiro, who had just passed his masters test to be a sorcerer. At the moment, we were watching one of the other new knights and the challenger.

"Do you think that she can beat him? He's a prince, after all," Koushiro murmured, and I shrugged.

"He may be over-confident because our visiting prince is not fighting a him, but a her. Besides, Michelle is one of the best, despite the fact that she's a woman…" my voice trailed off as my best friend swung her staff suddenly, blocking her opponent's complex pass.

"It's amazing that Michelle of all people is one of the best," Yamato commented dryly, and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"It probably has something to do with having to defend herself when she was a page."

"Oh, then you should be the next strongest knight, right Mr. Geekfest of the year?" Taichi replied, and I felt my cheeks burn as he used my former nickname… and I wasn't the one that got to choose it.

Before anybody could anything, Michelle let out a triumphant cry, interrupting all of us. Before any of could even blink, she had knocked the prince's staff out of his grip and used her own staff to pin him down to the ground, staring at him squarely in the eyes.

Our jaws dropped. 

She had won the battle against the visiting prince in less than five minutes, and had hardly even broken into a sweat. 

"You never told me she was this strong with a staff," Koushiro muttered to me.

"If you think this is good, wait to see her with a sword,"I muttered back, and Taichi nudged me.

"Ah, but she has yet to have a duel with you, my dear knight, Taichi grinned, and I rolled my eyes, turning my attention back to Michelle and his majesty, who was still pinned under her staff.

"Um… what did he say to tick her off so much?" Yamato asked.

"You'll see," Taichi replied.

"Are you convinced, your majesty?" Michelle questioned quietly, not allowing herself to be dislodged as he struggled to get her off of him.

He just grunted and continued to try to push her off. Unfortunately for him, she was positioned perfectly above him so that it was more or less impossible to get her off.

"My dear prince, we had a deal, if you have forgotten," she reminded him not too gently.

"I refuse to comply… I am the prince of the kingdom to the north and…"

"A dishonorable opponent who will not comply with his promises. Is that how you want people to remember you? A knight should honor his promises, if he wishes to be respected," Yamato spoke up, and his majesty twisted

around slightly to look at the blonde, giving him an ugly look.

"Womencanbeknights," he muttered quickly.

"Slower, my prince."

"Women. Can. Be. Knights," he hissed. Michelle smiled and got off of him, offering him a hand. Instead of taking it, he slapped away her hand.

"I don't need your help."

Michelle looked stunned before stepping back from him, "Fine then. No need to get so touchy.

He shot her a dirty look before getting up, brushing his shirt to get rid of any dust that might have ended up on his tunic before walking away, head heldup high.

"Does that answer your question?" Taichi asked, nudging Yamato, who just smiled. The two of them walked off with a quick good-bye, and after his own good-bye, Koushiro followed them. I walked up to Michelle, who was

picking up his majesty' s dropped staff.

"Do you have a death wish, Michelle?" I asked dryly as she walked over to the cabinet and put the staffs back in.

"Unlike a certain other person I know, I have a sufficient love for life that no, I do not wish to die just yet."

"You don't act like it," I replied, ignoring the remark on my own opinion of life. Was it my fault that I had wanted to do other things other than being a knight? But nooo, father insisted.

"Why? Because I didn't show enough respect to that overbearing peacock?"

"Kinda like what you're doing now, I suppose."

"That stuffed shirt needs to be thrown down every once in a while."

"You do understand the concept that we worry for you? 

"You worry about me? How sweet of you, Jyou," Michelle murmured, and I was relatively surprised that she was being sincere

"Well, I'm not the only one, you know. So… how was your midnight stroll with Yamato last night? I must say that he wasn't the only one very surprised with our only female knight wearing a dress. Although it was a very pretty dress… matched your eyes… and of course, you looked very pretty in it too" I teased, watching with amusement as her face turned red from embarrassment.

"Were you… were you… _spying_ on me???" Michellesputtered.

"Not exactly. Koushiro and I were just… um… looking for someone."

"_Koushiro_ is on this too??? If you weren't my friend, I would break your glasses!!"

I just laughed and shook my head. Michelle growled and mumbled something about mixing up Koushiro' s many potions and hopefully getting him turned into a donkey.

~*~

The banging on the door immediately woke me up. It' s times like this that I hate being a light sleeper as I look out the window. It's still night and not at all close to dawn.

Still yawning, I open the door and find myself staring at Koushiro. He looked like he had just thrown on his clothes, and surprisingly enough, instead of his usual black mage's rope that showed that he was one of the most

powerful sorcerers on this planet, he was wearing a tunic and breeches. He was also breathing heavily, and looked like he had run across the entire palace. Then again, his quarters_ are_ on the other side of the palace, so it's always a possibility… but why wouldn't he just use a quick transportation spell or something?

I quickly ushered him, slamming the door shut.

"You have… to get dressed… the palace is under attack," he muttered, taking in deep breathes. My jaw dropped to theground.

"What? How?" I squeaked. He waved my questions away.

"I'll explain later. But you have to hurry," he replied and I grabbed my tunic, throwing it on.

"They used magic. Their mages are blocking off people's abilities to use magic and killing off all the sorcerers and sorceresses powerful enough to overcome the block. They're also attacking the council members and knights. I think they slipped in with our dear visiting prince.

I nearly choked and looked at Koushiro, "Why do you think that??"

"The dear prince Michael is gone, Jyou, with absolutely no explanation. There is no other explanation on our current situation.

I bit my lip, "Something else has happened, hasn't it? Something you haven't told me yet"

"Ah… well…"

"Koushiro…"

He looked away. " Most of the council members are dead…" His voice trailed off, filled with pain. "Well… basically all of them except council leader Gennai. A Digimon… well, more of a demoness, killed them all before anybody could alert the rest of the palace…" He looked at me sadly.

I felt my mouth go dry.

"Who… but… Shim…" 

Koushiro looked away, brushing away any tears with his shirt sleeve, "He's gone." His voice trembled a bit, and I saw his face quiver. "All our families are. Taichi's parents, Yamato' s father, Michelle's mother… Jim… my adoptiveparents…" there was a sharp intake of breath.

I didn't know what to say, didn't know what to do... so I did the only possible—I masked my fears, "So… I guess we fight… for them" I stated, trying desperately to sound a lot more confident than I truly was as I picked up my sword and dagger. Koushiro quickly composed himself as well, looking me in the eye.

"I… I can use my magic. The spells aren't strong enough to stop me from using it."

"Then why didn't you" I questioned, opening the door and making sure nobody was there to cut us down.

"Cause they would have killed me, and I certainly can't help anybody if I'm dead. I would probably be able to defend myself, but then what about all of you? I can do a couple transport spells, get some of the others… then get to the council leader."

"Wait… um… how come, we don't know anything about this? I mean, hear it?"

"The conspirators that planned the attack were very intelligent, and they anticipated almost everything. The spells that they cast include sound spells, which muffle out all sound unless one is being directly spoken to, like

now."

I nodded and grabbed Koushiro's arm. Anger and disbelief were currently overwhelming grief. Shim… my big brother. I couldn't… no, didn't want to believe that he was gone. And now, only three days after knighthood, we were all being thrown into some ridiculously complicated battle with absolutely no leader to guide any of us.

This is getting to be an incredibly lousy night…

~*~

Luckily, Michelle and Yamato had already ended up together, saving us a transport trip. The two had ended up against a small army of Digimon and soldiers, and several bodies were strewn on the ground, blood staining their clothes

How they ended up together… I wasn't really sure. Of course, I guess it really didn't matter at the moment, did it?

The two got with the program immediately, and Koushiro transported us to Taichi's room, where we came up on the extremely embarrassing situation of him and one of the best palace healers, Sora Takenouchi, making out. After calming down all our jumpy nerves, Koushiro did one last transportation spell to the Digital Council leader's room only seconds after guards wearing the enemy's colors burst into the room, obviously searching for the person using his magic.

~*~

The last transportation spell was taking a bit of a toll on poor Koushiro, what with transporting five extra people. Not to mention that we had all forgotten the little fact that Gennai's room had spells to prevent people from popping in. But we had no choice. The only way into the room was a transportation spell, as we didn't have enough time to prevent the small army of guards from attacking the six of us, and we knew that we had to get to Gennai as quickly as possible. Koushiro had to force his way through the spell by breaking it down, and it took a toll on him since the original spell had been so powerful. But he somehow managed it, and the four knights, one healer, and one sorcerer suddenly popped into the room, Koushiro's exhaustion botching the spell slightly and spewing us all to the ground in a very untidy heap in the middle of the room.

I could just see Gennai's expression without even looking. These were the six people that had come to save him? If it was, he was probably screwed. When I looked up, Gennai was watching us, but it wasn't with a look of disbelief or confusement or anything like that. He looked like he was dying, the sweat running down his face and his breath short and choked. Sora immediately leaped into action, taking out some herbs in an attempt to help him, but he shook his head, and she withdrew. He coughed, and the bright red drops of blood staining the ground.

"No time…" he gasped out, "The demoness… poison."

Koushiro staggered to his feet and placed his hands on Gennai's temple, purple magic sparkling. Almost immediately, Gennai seemed to get better, and he was finally able to stop coughing blood all over the ground, something we were all relieved about.

"I'm dying... you must be... the next Digidestined...it was pre-ordained from the beginning... and although it's earlier than any of us would have liked, you must carry on the mantle of the Digital Council. It is my duty...as the council leader... to pass down to you the duties of a member of the Digital Council. There are only six of you now...but six more will come... and you will know those six when you see them."

He turned to Taichi and Yamato, " You two... will be the Digital Council's leaders. You, my lady, please get me that box on my nightstand.

Michelle nodded and walked off to do as she was told. Gennai turned to me, "In... in the closet... three Digimon... bring all of them"

I felt myself blanche, but I obeyed. Opening the tall floor to ceiling closet, I saw three Digimon, sleeping peacefully. One was an orange lizard like Digimon, the second was a bug like creature, and the third was a light blue seal Digimon. I brought all of them to the council leader.

"We should have suspected something... when Primary Village was destroyed. But we didn't. And because of the destroying of Primary Village... I cannot give you all the Digimon that you deserve. Only three had been out of the village by the time... it was destroyed. I also have... your tags and crests, and they will bring you the powers of your Digimon...in some of your cases, the ones you were _supposed_ to have. There are three extra tags and crests...save those for three of the next Digidestined.

"Taichi Kamiya. You are to be the leader of the Digital Council, and your crest is the crest of courage. Your Digimon is Agumon." As Gennai spoke, Taichi bowed in front of him, and without any bidding, one of the tag and crests floated out of the box that Michelle was holding to rest itself around Taichi's neck. The orange dinosaur like Digimon stirred, but did not awaken.

"Yamato Ishida. Although there is usually only one leader of the Digital Council... this is not a usual case. You are to be joint leader of the Digital Council with Taichi Kamiya, and your crest is the crest of friendship. Your Digimon was to be Gabumon, but sadly, he has been lost." This time, a tag and blue crest floated out, resting itself around Yamato's neck.

"Sora Takenouchi. Your healing and work to save lives give you a right to be a member of the Digital Council. Your crest is the crest of love. Your Digimon was to be Biyomon, but she was also lost in Primary Village." A tag and rest crest floated out, and likewise rested itself around the healer's neck.

"Koushiro Izumi. Your skill and immense power, as well as your knowledge and understanding give you a right to be a member of the Digital council. Your crest is the rest of knowledge. Your Digimon is Tentomon." The small red buglike Digimon stirred, but like Agumon, did not awaken as the purple crest and tag was given to Koushiro.

Gennai turned to Michelle, who handed the box to me. "Michelle Woo. Your integrity, determination, and joy have not only made you the only female knight of the realm, but a member of the Digital Council. Your crest is the crest of joy. Your Digimon is Frostmon." Unlike the other Digimon, Frostmon continued to sleep peacefully, and Michelle received a tag and a white crest.

He turned to me, and I felt myself growing faint. I could just see it. Huh? What? Who the heck are you? Oh, you? No, you're nobody. Thanks for coming, bye now. When he gestured for me to hand him the box, stunned, I handed him the box of tag and crests, kneeling in the process.

"Jyou Kido. You may not know it now, but despite all the obstacles that have stood and still stand in your way, you will be important in the future of the Digital Kingdom, as well as to many others. Your crest is the crest of reliability. Your Digimon was to be Gomamon, but he was lost as well."

A tag with a gray crest floated out of the small wooden box, and I couldn't breath as it came for me, glowing with a small internal light. As I felt the weight of the cord around my neck, I also felt a sense of power coursing through me.

Gennai smiled at us, " I didn't think I would be doing this...so soon...but I guess I don't have a choice now, do I? May your perserverence and personal qualities get you through this time."

Before Sora or Koushiro could even get up to help him, he gave one final cry of pain before he died.

~*~

We sat there...in shock.

He was dead.

We were the council's successors.

This was happening wayyyy too fast.

No way this could get worse.

Before we could say anything though, the three Digimon stirred, and suddenly leaped into their respective partner's arms. Michelle squeaked when the small light blue Digimon launched itself into her arms, practically choking her with its silver claws. "It's about time you got here!"she quipped, "I've been waiting for so long, and some weirdo guy comes along and takes us away!"

Okay...so it could get worse.

"Um...well…"Michelle stammered, obviously flustered, and I couldn't help but smirk. One of the few times I could see her dumbfounded.

A sudden hammering on the door caught our attention. Taichi had finished his own introduction with Agumon, his Digimon, and now he turned to Koushiro. It was unbelievable, but the door was splintering. A strange orange glow was coming from Taichi, but the situation was getting desperate, so we didn't question it.

"Koushiro, do you think you can transport us all away from this place?"

Koushiro blinked thoughtfully, "Yeah. But only once more."

"That's enough,"Yamato interjected, starting to glow with his own light blue aura, "We get out of here and

then move into groups. Our objective is to find and either imprison or kill the demoness. With her death, the enemy forces will no longer be unified, and will flee."

"Right. The groups will be Yamato and myself, Koushiro and Sora, and Michelle and Jyou," Taichi stated firmly, and none of questioned him. It was a smart decision, giving each group one Digimon and enough experience with the other to be able to work together effectively.

"Let's go then,"Sora latched onto Michelle and me, who was already holding onto Koushiro.

Michelle closed her eyes, " And I always thought that I wasn't able to get motion sickness."

~*~

We split up quite quickly. Michelle and I headed down the east corridor, Frostmon trailing behind us. Michelle was glowing with a white aura, and maybe I was too but I couldn't tell. It's amazing that we could live in the palace so long and still get lost. We ended up stuck right in front of a huge wooden door, that I was pretty sure had never been there before, despite my less than complete knowledge of palace corridors.

"This wasn't here,"Michelle stated flatly, resting her hands on the door.

"I didn't think so either."

Michelle bit her lip, looking at the door, "We can't hack our way through that. And the door doesn't have a doorknob, so I can't use my lockpicks.

"How on earth do you have lockpicks?????" That does it. My friend is driving me maddddddddddd. Maybe her father was a thief. Maybe I'm going insane. Yep. That sounds correct.

"Jyou, please, I'm thinking."

I turned to Frostmon, "What kind of Digimon are you, Frostmon?"

"Vaccine?"

"Um...I mean, what element?"

"Oh. Ice.\rdblquote\par

"Ice?" Michelle's eyes lit up, "That's perfect."

"Yep,"I agreed, stepping back as Michelle stood there, palms on the door. "So...what do I do?"

I sweatdropped.

"You're funny,"Michelle commented mildly, her hands started to glow a faint shade of white.

"I am not."

"Yes, you are,"she was giggling, and her eyes were glowing white as well, her entire body gleaming with light that was so blinding it was hard to look at.

"I wanna glow too,"Frostmon whined as the glow spread across the door, creating ice where ever it touched.

"You'll glow too, Frostmon. Just wait,"I grinned and Frostmon shot me an irritated look.

"Jeez, thank_ you_ , Jyou. Thanks to you, I believe in myself! I believe in you! I believe in Michelle! And I want world peace! Miss United States, here I come!"she squealed loudly, giving me a sarcastically hopeful look with little sparkles in her eyes, her flippers spread wide open as she looked to be begging.

"Shut up,"I growled as Michelle stepped back and gave us both baleful looks.

"I bet you two are just getting along _so_ well," she mocked.

"As well as an old married couple,"Frostmon chirped.

"Would you like the honors?"Michelle smirked, moving aside.

"And I…"

"You have the crest of reliability. Your Digimon was to be Gomamon, whose element is water. So be reliable and blast the door down with enough water pressure,"Frostmon explained as if it was the easiest thing in the world to understand. I could only blink, and so did Michelle.

"How on earth do I act reliable?"

"You don't \i act\i0 , silly. You simply _are_. Michelle's quality as joy is a natural part of herself. She is naturally

joyful, and it isn't an act. You are naturally reliable, Jyou. You just don't know it."

"You are not helping,"I glared at her.

"She's right, Jyou." Michelle spoke suddenly, and confusion crossed my face. "You have to be reliable, just like you always are. Whether it was when you were helping me with my equations or sticking by my side when we were being mocked, you were always being reliable. Besides, don't you want to be Miss United States too?" Michelle grinned the last part while I groaned.

"Michelle…"

She started to laugh, "If there's two things I can rely on you for, Jyou, it's always being there for me...and always being able to make me laugh."

"Thank you,"I replied dryly.

"Jyou...telling you to believe in yourself is about as ridiculous sounding as you becoming Miss United States. I can't tell you anything. But I can tell you that you are reliable. And blah, blah, blah, blah. I can just go on forever with an inspirational speech, but it sure as hell isn't going to get us anywhere. So do me a favor and just believe in

yourself without making me sound like a nitwit. Wait...I already sound like an idiot. Okay then, since I have just made a fool of myself, make my humiliation worth something!!" I felt a bit shocked. She normally doesn't get this emotional.

"Michelle…"I turned to look at her, and suddenly felt a wave of power seep through my system, similar to the power I had felt when Gennai had given me the crest. I couldn't help but yelp when a shade of cool gray light collected at my hands, somehow changing to a current of water that had enough pressure to break down the door but not enough pressure to blast _me_ to the other end of the hall. Obviously, these crest powers enjoy denying the laws of science, but none of us could really worry about that when the door fell to the ground and revealed a very formidable army of fifteen men.

"I wish you weren't so reliable,"Michelle grinned, drawing her sword as I did too.

"I don't see what's so funny."

"Don't you see? All that we just went through to make you believe in yourself just leads us to probably ending up dead,"she was laughing now, and we were all staring at her like she had lost her mind. Which she had, obviously.

"Oh, Michelle, you don't believe that?" Do you?

"Actually, I don't,"Michelle gripped her crest, "Frostmon?"

"Be glad to,"Frostmon grinned.

A clear white tinted bubble formed around the small Digimon, and she grinned impishly at me, "Told me I was going to be able to shine too...Frostmon digivolve to...BLIZZARDMON!"

A bright flash of light enveloped the room before a new Digimon appeared. The small seal like Digimon had changed into a larger sea lion like Digimon with giant blue tinted feathered wings, a horn on the middle of the blue jewel that rested in the middle of her forehead, making her look a bit like a seal-unicorn. A purple jewel adorned her white throat, silver claws gleamed in the light, and the white crest of joy embellished her front paws.

"That's impressive,"Michelle commented, "Take care of them, Blizzardmon! We'll find the demoness!"

Michelle grabbed my wrist and we ran off, leaving the champion level Digimon to deal with the small army.

~*~

"I've never seen this part of the palace," I muttered as we ran up the stairs.

"Maybe she just created this section?"

"I suppose,"I replied doubtfully when we reached the door at the top of the stairs. Before either of us could open the door, it swung open to reveal a woman with white skin and wearing jet black clothes, chains becoming jewelry, and smiling maliciously at us through red eyes of her black mask, her smile revealing two fangs that looked like a vampire's fangs.

"So, my little chickadees, you made it this far."

"Chickadees?"

"You annoying brat, didn't anybody teach you not to question your elders???"

"But you're not my elder,"Michelle replied sweetly.

"Hmm...if that's what you want to think...Darkness Wave!

I shut my eyes in the pain that seared through me and Michelle slumped to her knees as the darkness seemed to explode through our bodies, leaving no place unscathed as it ran through our veins and burned everything that it touched, a wildfire set in a forest of dry wood.

"You...truly are...a demon's spawn," I growled when she finally stopped her painful attack, watching us with no real concern.

"I'm soooo hurt. My two knights, if you two are the best of this country, I must admit that this country is pathetic. My name is Ladydevimon, and I will be the last person you see before you both die."

"You are very _humble_," Michelle hissed, both of us standing and resting our hands on the hilt of our swords.

"I like to think so too,"Ladydevimon replied, and before we could blink, Ladydevimon was rushing at us, and she slapped Michelle across the face, leaving five red marks that bled slightly. Michelle glared at Ladydevimon defiantly, but then her eyes rolled up into her head and she fell to the ground, unconscious.

"What did you do?"I demanded as Ladydevimon casually kicked the sword out of Michelle's hand, reaching down to grab it.

"My nails. Do you like them? They're poisoned."

I felt a wave of coldness flood my senses, and Ladydevimon made a clicking sound with her tongue.

"She won't die, my dear. If I want to kill her, I'll poison her when she's unsuspecting, like what I did to your dear council leader, Gennai."

"You truly are a demon."

"Thank you,"she smiled, "Now...Kido Jyou, isn't it? I think I've heard about you." Her face broke into a grin as she looked me over, "You're the geek of the court, aren't you? I remember when I killed your brother. It was quite interesting to slit his throat and watch his eyes lose all their life.

"What are you doing, Ladydevimon?"I hissed, watching as she tried a few lazy passes with Michelle's sword, practically ignoring me.

"I challenge you to a duel, Jyou. To the death."

I blinked with surprise, "Why me?" (wheee! I just noticed that this is what Nancy Kerrigan said after she was clubbed on the knee at the 1994 National Championships… figure skating) This was all very odd. I was notorious in the palace for having never done a duel in my life, "Why not Michelle? She is known as the best hand with the sword."

"I have watched you before, Jyou. You are not very confident. But you know what you're doing, and I wish to have a battle with someone who isn't as hot headed as your friend."

"That's not a good reason."

"Tell somebody who cares,"she grinned cruelly before she lunged at me, her sword going in an upward arc that neatly cut off a lock of hair. I ducked and forced my blade upwards, which she blocked quickly. Keeping the blades together, I forced myself up despite the pressure that she was putting on the upper part of my body. Ladydevimon quickly disengaged, bringing her blade in a downward sweeping swipe and I blocked by going in a side ways cut, our swords meeting in a fury of sparks.

"You're quite good,"Ladydevimon hissed.

I didn't reply as she aimed for my side. When I brought my blade to the side to block, she abruptly changed paths and aimed for my other side. I didn't even have time to protect that side when it cut deeply into my arm, making me hiss from the pain. The small victory made her cocky and I brought the sword back to push her sword out of my arm, bringing the sword up to crash into her blade. Then I whipped my blade to each side, forcing her to follow me instead of the other way around, leaving her side unprotected. My blade was about to sink into her side deeply when she stepped away, spinning in a half circle and catching the steel. I brought my sword back up and down again, landing a cut down her center which went from her collarbone to her midriff. Blocking her blade again when she tried to cut into my shoulder, I pushed upwards. Swiftly, I disengaged and cut into her side.

She released her grip on Michelle's sword, glaring at me through half lidded eyes, her long white hair falling close to her wound and staining it crimson.

"You're strong, Jyou. Stronger than I thought you would be." Her body trembling slightly, and her blood dribbled down the front of her. "I may have underestimated you this time, but I'll be back, mark my words,"she condemned ominously, and surprisingly enough, began to laugh. "You alone cannot destroy the power of darkness."

She laughed, her laugh more like a screech or fingernails skidding along a blackboard, even as she began to turn to data. She laughed until she had no mouth, but she continued to glare at me through her red eyes, and I finally let out my held breath when those too, had dissipated into nothingness.

~*~

I'm standing here, and I'm still not sure exactly how this is all going to turn out. I don't doubt that it wasn't the end. I don't doubt that more is to come. But what can we do about it? Just wait, I guess. 

As Gennai fortold, we have found the other six members of the Digimon council. 

It still feels strange, bearing the crest of reliability and all. My own squire, Iori Hida, doesn't have a crest of his own. It is the same with Taichi's squire, Daisuke Motimiya, and Koushiro's apprentice mage, Miyako Inoue. We don't really know why they don't have crests of their own...But it doesn't matter. They have earned their place in our Council.

The others, for some unexplicable reason, do have crests like ours.

Sora's apprentice healer, Hikari Kamiya recieived the crest of light almost at the same time that Yamato's own squire and brother, Takeru Takaishi, received the crest of hope. The last member of the council, Michelle's squire, Ken Ichijouji, received the crest of kindness.

It has come to my attention that Taichi and Sora are in love, and although they both try hard to deny it, I wouldn't be surprised if they announce their engagement soon.

Even today, I am watching two of my friends being joined in wedded bliss.

Michelle's face is filled with joy as she stares into Yamato's eyes and repeats her vows. They will happy together.

It's all happening too fast for me. I have lost my best friend, and while she isn't really gone, nothing will ever be the same again. There's an empty void in my heart.

What does the future hold of us? Will we be able to keep this land in safety and peace.... or will darkness try to conquer us again? All I can do is wait for the future to come, I suppose, and continue living in the present day by day.

Obviously, I've been watching "The Princess Bride" a bit too carefully. I'll shut up now. It's 11:37 P.M., and I should go and get some sleep before waking up to start doing homework tomorrow. *sarcastic voice* Yea… so much fun…

Anyhow, thank you Child of the Faeries for your wonderful editing and reading through all this insanity. Thanks for bring up so many good points and necessary things. The fic wouldn't have been the same without you. (So I'll give Jyou his medication next time… just don't have Koushiro ^_~).

Pikachumaniac


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